Moscow is profiting from the Iran war for now — but experts say Russia's economy is in the 'death zone'

Russia has found itself in the curious position of benefiting from the turmoil hitting its Middle East partner and ally, Iran.

Tehran’s almost total closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil and gas prices to surge, filling the coffers of major oil and gas producers like Russia.

Sergey Vakulenko, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told CNBC Tuesday that Russia’s windfall from the Iran war resulting energy price growht ran into the billions of dollars.

“So far the oil price, and the Urals in particular, has jumped by more than $60 a barrel and this brings the Russian state almost $9 billion per month, that’s quite substantial,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

“Even the countries that were considering less oil from Russia, like India, are buying more again and the United States is even issuing dispensations for that,” he noted, referring to a 30-day waiver issued by the White House earlier in March enabling countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, in an effort to tame global energy price hikes.