Russian-Iranian ‘Weapons Corridor’ Means the Caspian is No Longer Safe for Shipping or for Littoral States, Baku Commentator Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 17 – The sinking of an Iranian ship in the Turkmenistan sector of the Caspian Sea may or may not have been the result of hostile action, Baku commentator Nurani says; but it has called attention to the fact that “the weapons corridor” Russia and Iran have established there means that the Caspian and its littoral are no longer safe.

            Both on the surface of the sea and in the air above it, Nurani says, Russia and Iran have established a weapons corridor first to deliver weapons to Armenia during the 44 Day War with Azerbaijan and now from Iran to Russia to attack Ukraine or from Russia via Iran to allies like Venezuela (minval.az/news/124511371).

            “Strictly speaking,” Nurani continues, “the use of the Caspian Sea in the Ukrainian war is not limited to this. From here, Russia launches Kalibr missiles at targets in Ukraine, and these are most often civilian targets. Even earlier, before the start of the Ukrainian war, targets in Syria were attacked from the Caspian Sea.”

            Moreover, “Ukraine is already openly striking Russian targets in the Caspian Sea. The base of the Red Banner Caspian Flotilla in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, was attacked by Ukrainian drones. Oil platforms in the Russian sector of the Caspian have repeatedly come under attack. Finally, there were also attacks on a Russian control ship in the Caspian.”

            And, he suggests, “it is even possible that tomorrow the US and its allies will enter the game. The issue of strikes on Iranian targets is on Washington's agenda” and “this means that the calls made in Aktau at the time of the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea to ‘make the Caspian a sea of ​​peace and friendship’ have remained just calls.”

            Nurani concludes: “Russia, which is accustomed to considering the Caspian Sea almost its own internal body of water, like Ladoga or Baikal, openly uses the Caspian for military purposes. And this already seriously threatens the security of other Caspian states, with all the consequences that entails.”

            For background on the increasing military competition in the Caspian, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/07/three-distinct-blocs-among-caspian.html and the sources cited therein.