In recent months, the Caspian Sea has gained new importance as a trade route linking Russia and Iran — along which Moscow supplies drone components, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.
Russian port statistics show a sharp increase in traffic through the Caspian Sea. In particular, about two million tons of wheat were redirected to the Caspian route, which was annually supplied to Iran via the Black Sea, notes Vitaly Chernov, head of the analytics department at the leading industrial group PortNews Media Group. Russia also supplies goods through this route, which usually passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the New York Times wrote.
Iranian authorities, in turn, say that work on opening alternative trade routes is proceeding at a rapid pace – as four Iranian ports operate around the clock in the Caspian Sea.
However, the Caspian Sea became a channel not only for open trade, but also for hidden trade. According to US officials, Russia ships drone components via this route. The newspaper’s interlocutors point out that Russian components are unlikely to play a decisive role in Iran’s ability to resist the United States and Israel, but they will help Tehran quickly restore its arsenal of drones after it lost about 60% of them.
Meanwhile, the United States cannot intercept ships in the Caspian Sea – unlike the Persian Gulf – as only five ships going there can reach the Caspian Sea. Thus, for the United States, the Caspian Sea remains a “blind spot,” the New York Times wrote.
The maritime connection between Iran and Russia along the Caspian Sea has long been the focus of journalists, who have repeatedly written about how Moscow obtained components of Shahed attack drones and ammunition from Tehran. Ships involved in military supplies from Iran to Russia, among other things, became the target of Ukrainian strikes.