BANDAR ANZALI — Israeli fighter jets struck targets at Bandar Anzali, an Iranian naval port on the Caspian Sea, on March 18, 2026. According to an Israeli military statement, the strikes hit naval port and base facilities where dozens of military vessels, including missile ships and guard boats, were stationed.

The attack targeted a port that has served as a node in growing trade between Iran and Russia across the Caspian Sea. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Iran and Russia have increased under-the-radar trade on the landlocked body of water, which is bordered by Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian corridor has connected Russian ports such as Astrakhan with northern Iran, including Bandar Anzali, with cargo then moving by rail or road toward the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

Many vessels operating along this corridor have switched off their tracking signals. In 2024, the United States sanctioned two Russian shipping companies for transporting drone-related equipment and munitions across the Caspian Sea for use in Ukraine. Iran and Russia also exchange food goods via the sea route.

Grain trade between Iran and Russia across the Caspian Sea was halted immediately following the Israeli attack on Bandar Anzali and later resumed. Russia, the world's largest grain exporter, has been enhancing export logistics on the Caspian Sea in recent years to target markets in Iran, Persian Gulf countries, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The Caspian segment is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, a 7,200-kilometer network of shipping, rail, and road routes connecting India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia, and Europe. Iran and Russia plan to expand trade via the Caspian Sea.

Dalga Khatinoglu, an expert on Iran's energy and macroeconomics, said, "Even if this route is disturbed, there are other ways for Iran and Russia to trade." Paul Goble, a longtime expert on Eurasia at the Jamestown Foundation, said, "Both Tehran and Moscow hope that the US will keep the Israelis from repeating their attack on the Caspian coast."

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, said, "If Russian interests are somehow impacted, destroyed, the Israelis are not going to scream about it because they do want to maintain cordial ties with the Russians." Vatanka added, "There is no reporting that suggests that the Caspian region would soon become such a stage."