One of its major escalations is its transfer to the Caspian Sea with the strike at the port of Bandar-i-Anzali on March 18. The Israeli strikes reportedly destroyed four Iranian warships equipped with air defenses and anti-submarine missiles, a corvette and several other smaller vessels, such as coast guard vessels and support vessels.
An Iranian naval command center, which was responsible for coordinating Iranian naval activity in the Caspian, was also hit, as well as warship repair infrastructure. The destruction of this command center means a degradation of the ability of the Iranian navy to coordinate in the Caspian.
The warships destroyed did not pose a direct threat to Israel, but the fact that they had air defenses as well as anti-submarine capabilities represented a potential threat to Israeli aircraft operating in Iran. After the Israeli strikes, it is believed that Iran’s naval capabilities in the Caspian have been largely neutralized.
This is a change in Israel’s strategy, as it now targets Iranian military infrastructure in wider geographic areas. It is also considered important to transfer the strikes to the Caspian area due to its geostrategic position, as it is an important intermediate area between the two important theaters of the war, Ukraine and Iran.
The Caspian in focus: The target is the Russian-Iranian equipment corridor
This targets a key corridor of potential equipment transfer between Russia and Iran, further signaling that no part of Iranian territory is safe, including the landlocked Caspian Sea.
The port of Bandar-i-Anzali hosts the most important base of the Iranian navy’s northern fleet and has a pivotal role in maritime trade with Russia. Throughout the war in Ukraine, cargo was transported from this port between Russia and Iran in vessels without tracking systems, which carried Iranian drones, such as the Shahed, missiles, missiles and bullets. The corresponding Russian nodal port connected to Bandar-i-Anzali is that of Astrakhan, while on the Iranian side the port of Amirabad is also important.
Ukraine had started hitting targets in the Caspian since November 2024, with a drone attack on the Russian port of Kaspiysk in the Dagestan region, which damaged two Russian ships. In August 2025, a transport ship carrying equipment from Iran, including parts for drones, was hit.
Now the flow of transport is believed to have changed with Russia reciprocating the “help” to Iran, including with Geran-2 drones that are an advanced form of Iran’s Shahed, with better navigation and targeting systems. In addition, the Iranians are reportedly receiving intelligence from Russia about major US targets across the Middle East, which are being hit by both drones and ballistic missiles. After the Ukrainian strikes in the Caspian it is now Israel’s turn to target Russian-Iranian transactions. The strikes in question are seen as a first message to Moscow.
