Russia and Iran will commence joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea on Monday as both countries continue to deepen military and strategic cooperation. The drills, titled CASAREX 2025, will involve units from the Russian Navy, the Iranian Navy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, and Iran’s Law Enforcement Command.
Observers from other Caspian littoral states—Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan—were invited to attend the exercises, although it remains unclear which of them have accepted the invitation.
Under the theme “Together for a Safe and Secure Caspian Sea,” the drills will focus on maritime rescue and relief operations, as well as enhancing naval cooperation and coordination among the Caspian Sea nations.
While the Caspian is a closed inland sea, it holds significant strategic and commercial importance. It forms a key link in the North-South Transport Corridor, a planned network to facilitate trade between Russia and Iran and extend toward South and East Asia. This corridor bypasses Western-controlled chokepoints such as the Suez Canal and the Baltic Sea, which are vulnerable to disruption, thereby increasing the geopolitical significance of Iran-Russia cooperation.
In 2018, the five littoral states—Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan—signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which included a provision prohibiting the presence of foreign military forces in the region. The agreement effectively closed the Caspian to outside navies, ensuring that only regional powers maintain maritime security and sovereignty over the waters.
These upcoming naval exercises underscore the strengthening strategic alliance between Moscow and Tehran, which has accelerated in recent years due to shared geopolitical interests and growing resistance to Western influence. That partnership was further solidified following the recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel, backed by the United States, during which American strikes targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities. In response, Iran launched a retaliatory missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Qatar.