Continuing with some articles already published in Umanità Nova, we continue our discussion of war logistics and the impact of growing militarization on rail traffic with an article from the CUB Rail Bulletin edited by Ferrovier3 Contro la Guerra. ----- The INSTC Corridor ---- The acronym INSTC stands for International North-South Transport Corridor. This is the 7,200-km corridor project intended to connect St. Petersburg, Russia, to Mumbai, India. The idea was conceived in 2000 and ratified two years later by India, Iran, and Russia. The strategic importance of this corridor involves all states. For India, the INSTC represents an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (itself a land-based alternative to the "Malacca Dilemma," the strategic maritime route for oil supplies to China, which is at risk of blockades and piracy), as well as a privileged route for oil and coal supplies from Russia. Russia could use it to circumvent sanctions. Iran and Azerbaijan would enjoy "transit rights," but relations between the two countries were severed in early March after Azerbaijan accused Iran of launching four drones in the Nakhchivan enclave.
Over the years, interest in the INSTC has spread to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Oman, and Syria; a sort of direct trade route between the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, Russia. Compared to maritime cabotage transiting the Suez Canal, the INSTC would almost halve travel times and reduce costs, while obviously not competing with cabotage in terms of capacity (a cargo ship can carry up to 20,000 containers).
The delays in the INSTC's construction to date are being blamed on Iran, which has been hit by sanctions and attacked for years. In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed by Iran and the US, among others, which lifted sanctions, seemed to represent a turning point; but three years later, the US withdrew from the plan and tightened sanctions. This did not halt the project entirely, as India continued to prioritize the development of the port of Chabahar in Iran. The maritime route allows India to bypass Pakistan, with which it has long been at war; Pakistan, in turn, has entered into conflict with Afghanistan. India aims to enter Afghanistan by rail from Chabahar, bypassing Pakistan and avoiding the Strait of Hormuz.
Creating a land alternative to the strait at the center of the US attack on Iran has become a priority. Turkey has renovated 350 kilometers of rail track along its border with Syria. Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has increased rail container transport from its eastern ports; Saudi freight trains carry containers stacked on top of each other, up to 400 per convoy. Despite this, rail is not capable, and will not be for a long time, of significantly replacing maritime transport due to the weakness and vulnerability of the infrastructure.
2025, a record year for freight
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR), with a rapidly expanding network (exceeding 13,000 kilometers in length), transported five million tons of freight in 2025. According to official sources, this figure has already been matched in the first two months of 2026. For various reasons, it would be pointless to compare it with domestic figures (Italy transports 19 times as many), but container traffic between China (but also Russia) and Iran was growing at unprecedented levels. This positive trend was shattered by Israeli-American attacks, and the US in particular has every interest in weakening this consolidation, making the railway infrastructure vulnerable to bombing and causing continuous disruptions to internal traffic, but especially external traffic to the northeast.
Shahriar Naghizadeh, representative of the Iranian Railways, said: "The countries transiting Iran are targeted by US and European Union sanctions, and this has made our work very difficult. However, we have also redoubled our efforts to neutralize these sanctions."
Iran is in full swing with cross-border railway projects and the development of at least nine corridors to the east. The map alongside highlights seven of the priority ones. Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilyov declared that, despite the bombing, work will begin on the Rasht-Astara railway line (Corridor 3 on the map), a key element of the INSTC. The corridor, as mentioned, is considered a strategic solution for improving connectivity and freight transport from India to new markets in Central Asia, particularly Iran, but also Russia.
It should not be forgotten that China, with Venezuelan oil supplies dwindling, is placing significant emphasis on Iranian oil supplies via land transport and the use of the Iranian ports of Asaluyeh and Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf. The latter location is also strategic for Russia, as the Moscow region is connected to it by a line traversed by numerous container trains. The port of Bandar Abbas has been subjected to heavy Israeli-American bombing.
In 2025, the new Yiwu-Qom (China-Iran) line was inaugurated, a 4,000-kilometer corridor via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, a land alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
Satellite and Military Technology
It is currently difficult to determine the damage caused to corridors, infrastructure, and convoys by Israeli-American bombing.
It is also difficult to know the extent of IRIR's use of satellite technology.
Russia and China are suppliers of orbital surveillance and advanced missile guidance systems to Iran. These supplies increased sharply after the twelve-day war in June 2025.
Russia, in particular, is supplying Iran with heavy military equipment and dedicated orbital reconnaissance: Rezonans-NE radars, the Khayyam spy satellite, a Russian-made Kanopus-V, the result of a joint Moscow-Tehran project, which allows monitoring specific US and Israeli bases, 48 Su-35 "Flanker-E" fighter jets, equipped with Khibiny-M electronic warfare pods and Irbis-E radars, specifically designed to detect stealth aircraft such as the F-35.
Iran has officially transferred its military architecture from the US GPS to the Chinese BeiDou, which, unlike GPS, includes a short message service that allows Iranian command nodes to communicate even in the event of local network downtime. China uses its fleet of over 500 satellites to provide Iran with constant SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) and territorial mapping. This support helps monitor US naval movements in the Persian Gulf in real time.
China has supplied advanced UHF-band radars such as the YLC-8B, which uses low-frequency waves to nullify the radar-absorbent coatings used by US bombers and stealth fighters.
These suppliers have provided Iran with the "connective tissue" for its defense-particularly high-resolution imagery and targets resistant to interference.
But it's clear that much depends on maintaining the INSTC and Belt and Road energy corridors.
Ferrovier3 against wars
https://umanitanova.org/laggressione-alliran-e-le-ricadute-sulle-ferrovie-dal-bollettino-cub-rail-n-90-aprile-2026/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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