Russian ships have been transporting large quantities of Iranian munitions through the Caspian Sea for months, the Wall Street Journal writes, citing intelligence documents and officials. Over the past six months, Iran has allegedly shipped 300,000 artillery shells and one million rounds of other ammunition via this route. According to the newspaper, it provides supplies for the army attacking Ukraine.
As the daily reported on Monday, shipping by sea poses a challenge to efforts USAto disrupt Tehran’s support for the Russian war machine and shows the deepening cooperation between the two regimes.
One million rounds of ammunition and 300,000 artillery shells for Russia
According to Middle Eastern officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, the last shipment of ammunition took place in early March, when the Russian ship Rasul Gamzatov transported Russia two thousand artillery shells. Total in the last six months Iran he was to agree to send – in addition to hundreds of drones – 300,000 missiles and a million rounds of other ammunition.
One of the contracts cited by the daily concerns the shipment of over 74,000 pieces for the amount of USD 1.7 million. According to the newspaper, the deliveries provide supplies for the attacker Ukraine Russian army.
As the “WSJ” suggests, stopping transports via the Caspian Sea would require the cooperation of other countries located on it.
The newspaper recalls that in April, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, paid a visit to Turkmenistan, who leads efforts to stop illegal shipments of weapons and drugs from Iran. According to the US Navy, the talks focused on “ways to deepen cooperation and expand maritime security.”
The daily notes that, despite last year’s warnings from American intelligence about potential deliveries of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia, so far there is no evidence that such a transaction took place. Similarly, Russia has not yet sent Iran Su-35 fighter jets, even though Tehran has announced that it expects to receive them in mid-March.
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