Until March 2026, the primary threats to developing trade corridors across the Caspian Sea seemed to be inadequate infrastructure and falling water levels. Then Israel targeted Iranian naval assets in the sea, followed in July by a Ukrainian attack on Iranian military shipments in the waterway. Conflict in the Caspian Sea has made it clear that physical maritime security is essential to making the east-west route a viable, reliable alternative conduit for critical resources.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, the east-west route known as the Middle Corridor, provides 4,250 kilometers of rail lines and 500 kilometers of sea connections between Europe and Central Asia, transiting through Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The Middle Corridor will also potentially connect further to China via a new rail line through Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and link Armenia and Azerbaijan through the 42-kilometer Zangezur Corridor thanks to the U.S.-sponsored TRIPP deal.
A second route, the International North-South Transport Corridor, once developed, would span 7,200 kilometers and connect Russia to the Persian Gulf, via the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and India. Conceived more than 20 years ago, the proposed north-south route has gained new life due to Russia’s need for alternative routes since the full-scale war in Ukraine and India’s interest in a route to the Arctic circumventing China.
