The Strike Nobody Talked About: Israel Hit the Russia-Iran Weapons Pipeline in the Caspian Sea
On March 18, Israeli jets struck the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea — destroying a corvette, four missile boats, and shipyard infrastructure. The IDF described it as hitting the Iranian Navy. The Wall Street Journal later reported it was also about something else: the clandestine supply route through which Russia and Iran have been exchanging weapons, drones, ammunition, oil, and food since 2022. Here is what was actually targeted and what it connects to.
The Strike: What the IDF Said
On March 18, 2026 — eighteen days into the US-Israel war on Iran — the Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of airstrikes against Iranian Navy vessels and infrastructure at Bandar Anzali, a port city on Iran's northern Caspian coast. The IDF confirmed the strikes publicly, stating they had destroyed an Iranian Navy corvette, four missile boats, several auxiliary ships and guard boats, a command center, and a shipyard, per Times of Israel reporting citing IDF statements.
At the time, the IDF stated it targeted the missile boats to cause a blow to the Iranian military. It acknowledged that those vessels did not pose a direct threat to Israel from the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is a landlocked inland sea roughly 2,400 kilometers from Israel — any attack from it would have required land transit through Azerbaijan, Russia, or other states. The IDF's own acknowledgment that the boats posed no direct threat made the target selection notable.
What the WSJ Reported: The Real Target
On March 24, The Wall Street Journal published a report citing people familiar with the matter, stating that one of the key aims of the Bandar Anzali strikes was to limit Russia's weapons-smuggling abilities. The Times of Israel, Ynet News, i24 News, and JNS all reported the same WSJ finding on the same day.
According to the Journal's reporting, Israel and Russia have maintained a careful relationship since the start of the Iran war on February 28. Israel has not publicly acknowledged that degrading Russia's supply lines was a target — reportedly due to its desire to maintain cordial ties with Moscow. Russia and Israel have had periodic back-channel communications and Moscow has not formally intervened militarily against Israel.
The Bandar Anzali port hosts the sanctioned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which regularly operates out of the facility, per the Journal, not far from where the Iranian Navy is based. The supply route links Russian and Iranian Caspian ports and allows the two countries to swap weapons, drones, ammunition, oil, and foodstuffs, according to the Journal's sources.
The Russia-Iran Caspian Weapons Pipeline: What It Has Moved
The Caspian route between Russia and Iran is not a new discovery. It became significant after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent imposition of sweeping Western sanctions on both countries. Both Russia and Iran are heavily sanctioned. The inland Caspian Sea, which borders Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran, is not subject to maritime interdiction by Western navies and provides a sanctions-evasion route inaccessible to NATO or allied naval forces.
In 2023, Iran transferred more than 300,000 artillery shells and one million rounds of ammunition to Russia via the Caspian Sea route, per the Wall Street Journal as cited by Times of Israel. This is in addition to Iran's supply of Shahed drones, which Russia has used extensively against Ukrainian infrastructure. Iran initially provided Russia with Shahed drones and subsequently helped Moscow build its own manufacturing plant to produce the variant domestically, per Times of Israel.
Russia, per a separate Wall Street Journal report published the same week, has been providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Iran's targeting of US forces in the region during the current war. Moscow has also been supplying Iran with parts to modify Shahed drones, providing improved communications, navigation, and targeting capabilities, per that WSJ report.
Russia and Iran formalized their relationship in January 2025, signing a strategic partnership agreement that explicitly covered military and defense cooperation, per Times of Israel.
Ukraine's Involvement: Drone Defense Deployed to the Gulf
The connections between the Iran war and the Ukraine war run in multiple directions. Ukraine, which has developed effective and inexpensive drone interceptors to defend against the Shahed drones Russia fires at Ukrainian infrastructure, has deployed more than 200 drone defense specialists to Middle East countries to help Gulf states defend against Iran's drone attacks, per Times of Israel reporting.
Ukraine has a direct interest in the Iran-Russia supply route being disrupted: the same Caspian corridor that has moved Iranian drones and ammunition to Russia is the pipeline supporting attacks on Ukrainian cities. Israel's strike at Bandar Anzali — whether or not the stated reason was degrading the Iranian Navy — simultaneously struck at Ukraine's primary battlefield adversary's supply chain.
The Geography: Why Bandar Anzali Matters
Bandar Anzali sits on Iran's northern coast, in Gilan Province. It is Iran's primary Caspian Sea port. Russia's nearest Caspian port is Astrakhan, approximately 1,000 kilometers to the north across the inland sea. Per the Journal, Russia has its own Caspian Sea port roughly 600 miles (approximately 970 kilometers) from Iran's, per Times of Israel's citation of the WSJ report.
The Caspian route allows both countries to move goods without passing through any strait or ocean controlled or observable by Western naval forces. The Strait of Hormuz — now effectively blockaded by Iran itself — handles Middle Eastern oil exports. The Caspian route handles Russia-Iran bilateral trade that both countries want to keep out of Western sight.
Israel's willingness to strike at Bandar Anzali — a port with no plausible threat to Israeli territory from its geographic position — indicates the strike objectives extended beyond the stated IDF rationale of degrading the Iranian Navy.
Russia's Position: Officially Neutral, Practically Involved
Russia has not declared war on Israel or the United States and has not publicly intervened militarily in the Iran conflict. Moscow has called for a ceasefire and de-escalation. At the same time, per the WSJ, it has been providing Iran with satellite imagery and enhanced drone capabilities during the current war.
Israel has historically maintained a policy of not publicly antagonizing Russia, even as it conducts operations that affect Russian interests — a posture sometimes called "constructive ambiguity." Striking Bandar Anzali without publicly acknowledging the Russia dimension is consistent with that pattern.
Russia has not publicly commented on the Bandar Anzali strikes or acknowledged the weapons supply route described by the WSJ, per available reporting. Neither Israel nor Russia have confirmed the WSJ's characterization of the strikes' objectives. The Journal's sourcing is described as "people familiar with the matter" — the specific identities and affiliations of those sources are not disclosed.
What Is Not Confirmed
Israel has not publicly acknowledged that degrading Russia's supply lines was an objective of the Bandar Anzali strikes. Russia has not confirmed or denied the WSJ's characterization. The exact volume of weapons that moved through Bandar Anzali in 2026 (before and after the strike) has not been publicly disclosed. Whether the strike succeeded in disrupting the Russia-Iran supply route in a lasting way — or whether the route will be reestablished through alternative ports — has not been established.