More and more shipments from Russia to Iran (including military ones) are going through the Caspian Se...

More and more shipments from Russia to Iran (including military ones) are going through the Caspian Sea, NYT writes. The US cannot intercept ships there

In recent months, the Caspian Sea has taken on new importance as a trade route linking Russia and Iran. Moscow uses it to supply, among other things, components for drones, The New York Times writes, citing U.S. officials.

Most ships turn off their transponders, making them impossible to track. NYT’s sources note that Russian components are unlikely to play a decisive role in Iran’s ability to resist the U.S. and Israel, but they will help Tehran rebuild its drone arsenal more quickly after it lost about 60% of it.

Russian port statistics also show a sharp rise in shipping across the Caspian in recent months, including openly declared shipments. In particular, about two million tons of wheat that had previously been shipped to Iran each year via the Black Sea were redirected to the Caspian route.

At the same time, the U.S. cannot intercept ships in the Caspian Sea, unlike in the Persian Gulf, because only five littoral countries have access to the Caspian. As a result, the Caspian remains effectively a “blind spot” for the U.S., NYT writes.

@meduzalive