- Iran-made artillery shells and ammunition made their way through the Caspian Sea to reach Russia.
- Russian cargo ships were found to have transported more than 300,000 artillery shells and 1 million rounds of ammunition.
- The situation has caused a problem for the United States and its allies trying to curb cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.
Russian ships were found to have transported massive quantities of artillery shells and ammunition rounds supplied by Iran across the Caspian Sea, which helped Moscow's military forces fight in Ukraine.
The situation has resulted in a rising issue for the United States and its allies, who are trying to curb cooperation between Iran and Russia. Various Middle East officials and documents detailed that Russian cargo ships transported more than 300,00 artillery shells and 1 million rounds of ammunition from Iran in the last six months.
Iran Transports Artillery Shells and Ammunition to Russia
People familiar with the matter said that intelligence information regarding the shipments was already given to the United States government. Middle East authorities argued that the last shipment of weapons that were known to have traveled across the Caspian Sea left Iran in early March, heading toward Russia aboard the cargo ship Rasul Gamzatov, as per Yahoo News.
The cargo ship is owned by the Russian company MG-Flot, which was formerly known as TransmorFlot LLC. The United States Treasury Department, in 2022, imposed sanctions on the company, saying that 16 of its vessels, including the Rasul Gamzatov, were found to have been transporting weapons for Moscow.
The company did not respond to requests for comments regarding the Treasury Department's allegations and sanctions. Furthermore, the Iranian delegation to the United Nations and the Russian Defense Ministry did not make any remarks regarding the issue.
American officials added Iran mainly used cargo planes to deliver weapons to Russia, making intervention nearly impossible. Furthermore, taking any action in the Caspian Sea forces them to request assistance from the former Soviet republicans located on its coast.
The findings of the transports come as Russian forces are known to be using Iranian-made Shahed drones and other "lower-precision systems" in its war with Ukraine. The discovery was made by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and revealed in an assessment of the conflict, according to Business Insider.
Russia-Ukraine War
Moscow's military forces have been targeting Ukraine's capital Kyiv using deadly drones for the first time in 25 days on Friday, Apr. 22. They are using drones to "offset the degradation of Russia's precision munition supply."
On the other hand, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported that the attacks did not cause any major damage to the targeted areas. Ukrainian military forces were able to shoot down 21 drones out of the 26 launched by Moscow's military on Apr. 20 and were able to shoot down another eight out of 12 launched the following day.
Russia's request for assistance from Iran began last summer, and Tehran responded by providing hundreds of kamikaze drones to Moscow. A September 2022 contract showed that a deal between Iran's Defense Ministry and Russia's JSC Rosoboronexport included more than 74,000 artillery shells worth $1.7 million, according to a local publication in Ukraine.
