The russian federation and Iran are currently working together to build a 3,000-kilometer logistics route to speed up the delivery of goods between the two countries.
This route will use both river and rail transport, its advantage is that it will be completely inaccessible to "any foreign interference", provided that russia can continue to maintain control over the Sea of Azov, as Bloomberg reports.
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According to some statements, Moscow and Tehran are ready to invest up to 25 billion dollars in the development of this logistics highway. Which will be used, in particular, to deliver grain from the russian federation to Iran (probably, including grain stolen in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine). Also, for the delivery of polymers and pharmaceuticals, turbines and components for automotive equipment. In addition, russia continues to sell Tehran nuclear fuel and components for the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. The declared turnover between the two countries has already exceeded 5 billion dollars.
Currently, at least 12 Iranian-flagged vessels ply the Caspian Sea between russia and Iran on a regular basis. At the same time, Tehran has an interest in "entering" the routes deep into the Volga. For this the Iranian company IRISL spent 10 million dollars in November 2022 to increase cargo transshipment to 85,000 tons at the Solyanka river port in Astrakhan, russia.
The White House, according to Bloomberg, reasonably fears that russia and Iran can use this logistical route to deliver new batches of kamikaze drones, or for the hypothetical transfer of ballistic missiles to be used for new attacks on Ukraine. But they are looking for at least some way to prevent the delivery of weapons along this "closed to outside influence" route.
But it seems that a really effective remedy literally lies on the surface, although it looks simple only in words. The authors of Bloomberg separately emphasized that for the stability of the logistics highway between russia and Iran, it is important for the Kremlin to maintain actual control over the waters of the Sea of Azov, which acts as a "buffer" for the communications of the russians along the Volga. Accordingly, to make russians lose such a "protective buffer", it is necessary for Ukraine to win back the Sea of Azov. And help the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons for this.
In other words, the liberation of Melitopol will not only endanger the communication of the occupiers to the temporarily occupied Crimea, but will also make it more difficult to deliver new suicide drones.
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