Iran Ships Ammunition to Kremlin by Caspian Sea

"Russian ships are ferrying large quantities of Iranian artillery shells and other ammunition across the Caspian Sea to resupply troops fighting in Ukraine, Middle East officials said, posing a growing challenge for the U.S. and its allies as they try to disrupt cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

During the past six months, cargo ships have carried more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia, according to the officials and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Intelligence about the shipments has been shared with the U.S., people familiar with the matter said.

Iran's delegation at the United Nations and the Russian Defense Ministry didn't respond to requests to comment. The White House National Security Council declined to comment.

The U.S. and its allies have been looking for ways to disrupt transfers of weapons from Iran, which also has been a key supplier of drones to the Russian military, U.S. officials say.

Iran primarily has used cargo planes to ship weapons to Russia, said U.S. officials, making it all but impossible to intervene. And taking action in the Caspian Sea would require help from former Soviet republics on its coastline.

Earlier this month, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper -- the head of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet who has spearheaded multinational efforts to stop illegal shipments of weapons and drugs from Iran in the Persian Gulf -- made an unannounced visit to Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea, said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesman. Cmdr. Hawkins declined to comment on any specific discussions about seizing weapons shipments in the Caspian Sea.

Officials in the Middle East said the most recent weapons shipment known to have crossed the Caspian Sea to Russia left Iran in early March aboard the Rasul Gamzatov. The ship carried 1,000 containers with 2,000 artillery shells, the officials said.

Publicly available shipping data shows the ship returned to Iran in late March and set sail again for Russia after being in port for just one day.

The ship is owned by MG-FLOT, a Russian company previously known as TransMorFlot LLC. The company was sanctioned last year by the U.S. Treasury Department, which said 16 of its vessels, including the Rasul Gamzatov, were transporting weapons for Russia. The company didn't respond to requests to comment.

Iran initially provided Russia with hundreds of explosive-laden drones that Moscow used against Ukrainian military targets. Ukrainian air defenses largely have succeeded in downing the drones and Russia has been using them less frequently. According to leaked documents Zelensky wasted most of his expensive air defensive equipment shooting down these inexpensive drones.

Anna Borshchevskaya, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Iran's relationship with Russia is moving from transactional to strategic. "Russia is now dependent on Iran for the first time in the broad scope of the Russia-Iran relationship," she said. "It's an historic shift."" [1]

1. World News: Iran Ships Ammunition to Kremlin by Caspian Sea
Nissenbaum, Dion; Faucon, Benoit.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 25 Apr 2023: A.7.