In recent months, the Caspian Sea has been gaining increasing strategic importance as a trade corridor linking Russia and Iran. According to US officials cited by The New York Times, Moscow is using this route to ship, among other things, components for drone manufacturing.
The key factor making the Caspian attractive for these deliveries is the basin’s geographical closure. Only five littoral states have access to it: Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. This means that US naval forces, capable of intercepting vessels in the Persian Gulf, are effectively powerless here. For Washington, the Caspian remains a “blind spot,” unlike open sea lanes where American ships move freely.
According to the newspaper’s sources, Russian components are unlikely to prove decisive for Iran’s ability to withstand pressure from the United States and Israel. However, if deliveries continue, they will help Tehran rebuild its drone arsenal more quickly, one that has already shrunk by roughly 60%.
Beyond the military dimension, Russian port statistics show a sharp rise in Caspian shipping across all cargo categories. According to Vitali Chernov, head of analytics at the industry group PortNews Media Group, around two million tons of wheat previously shipped to Iran via the Black Sea now travels through the Caspian. Russia is also rerouting goods through the Caspian that would otherwise have passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian side confirms that efforts to open alternative trade routes are advancing at a rapid pace: four Iranian ports on the Caspian operate around the clock, receiving wheat, corn, animal feed, sunflower oil, and other goods from Russia.
The Caspian route has long been on journalists’ radar. It previously served traffic in the opposite direction. Iranian components for Shahed strike drones and ammunition were shipped to Russia along this same corridor. The vessels involved in those transfers have repeatedly come under Ukrainian attack.
