While the world's focus remains fixed on the Strait of Hormuz, Russia and Iran have activated a silent logistics route across the Caspian Sea. This inland body of water, north of Iran, has transformed into a strategic corridor for goods, military components, and technology, operating beyond the reach of US surveillance. Four Iranian ports are operating at full capacity, while Moscow redirects millions of tons of cargo from the Black Sea.
3D visualization of the corridor: cargo flows and port nodes 🚢
To model this scenario in 3D, three layers must be mapped: first, the key ports (Astrakhan, Makhachkala, and Olya in Russia; Bandar Anzali, Nowshahr, Amirabad, and Bandar Torkaman in Iran). Second, the dual cargo flows: 70% of the current volume is grain and corn, while the remaining 30% consists of technical components and electronics for drones. Third, the evasion route: from the Caspian, cargo crosses Iran by rail to the Persian Gulf, bypassing Hormuz. A dependency diagram would show how the US loses interception capability by having no naval presence in the Caspian.
The symbolic shift: from Iranian drones to Russian components 🔄
The most revealing data point for any geopolitical simulator is the reversal of the technological flow. Until 2023, Iran sent Shahed drones to Russia for Ukraine. Today, according to Western intelligence, Moscow manufactures its own UAVs and exports critical components to Tehran to rebuild its arsenal. The Caspian acts as the invisible artery of this exchange. Simulating a blockade in Hormuz shows that, although 20% of global crude oil would stop, the Caspian-Iran route would allow Moscow and Tehran to keep their military supply chain intact.
How does 3D modeling of the new Russian-Iranian logistics highway in the Caspian transform the strategic analysis of global supply chains compared to the traditional dependence on the Strait of Hormuz?
(PS: geopolitics in 3D looks so good it makes you want to invade countries just to see it rendered)