‘Bigger than Japan, the Caspian is considered the largest lake in the world. Much of the trade passing through it is opaque. It has proved difficult to monitor from afar, not least because ships plying the route between Russian and Iranian ports habitually turn off the transponders that allow for satellite tracking, according to maritime tracking groups. Unlike the Persian Gulf, the United States cannot interdict ships on the Caspian because only the five bordering nations have access.
“If you’re thinking about the ideal place for sanction evasion and military transfers, it’s the Caspian,” said Nicole Grajewski, a professor specializing in Iran and Russia at Sciences Po in Paris.
While both Russia and Iran are public about trade in commodities like wheat, trade in weapons systems is a different issue.
Drone shipments show the close defense partnership between Moscow and Tehran. While it is unlikely the Russian parts play a decisive role in Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, they help bolster Tehran’s drone arsenal. If the shipments continue, they will help Iran to quickly rebuild that arsenal, the U.S. officials said.’
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Resupply from Russia via the Caspian Sea is a possible explanation. But earlier Iran was supposedly helping Russia with drones. So the Ukranian conflict now becomes a factor and actions in either theatre reverberate in the other.
The oil embargo shouldn’t be impacted though….the real Iranian Achilles heel.
