Iran can deliver part of aid, including "Shahes", to Russia via Caspian Sea, - CNN
The Caspian Sea is believed to be one of the main routes from Iran to Russia for Iranian-made attack drones and other assistance Tehran provides to the Kremlin in connection with its war against Ukraine and Western sanctions.
As reported by Censor.NET with reference to European Pravda, this is stated in a large CNN article dated April 26.
Journalists spoke with experts who monitor the movement of cargo, and according to available data, they assume that a significant amount of Shaheds, mortar rounds, and other weapons that Russia buys from Iran for the war against Ukraine may move through this route.
Cargo traffic data shows that cargo ships in the Caspian increasingly turn off their transponders (an automatic identification system that is traditionally kept on), suggesting that they have reasons for secrecy.
Thus, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence, since September, the number of vessels in the Caspian Sea that hide data about their movements has increased significantly. These are mostly ships under the Russian and Iranian flags, among which there are many vessels that, according to their technical characteristics, are suitable for the transportation of military goods.
Most often, vessels in the Caspian turn off the automatic identification system near the Iranian ports of Amirabad and Anzali, as well as on the Russian Volga and near the port of Astrakhan.
Using data from MarineTraffic, CNN tracked six Russian-flagged and two Iranian-flagged ships that, according to the analysts interviewed, are behaving suspiciously. They noticed certain regularities - ships can go from Iranian ports to Astrakhan, but do not make an official entry into the port there; some ships turn off data transmission on the approach to Amirabad and Astrakhan or generally move for a long time with transponders turned off.
CNN also analyzed Flightradar24 data and found that between May 2022 and March 2023, Iranian cargo planes made at least 85 flights to Russia.
According to analysts, although some of the Iranian "Shaheds" could be brought to Russia by plane, the sea route is much more profitable, as it allows transporting a much larger cargo at once.
