Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone. In this video, we are [00:01] going to talk about the relationship of [00:04] Russia to Iran and what Russia has been [00:07] doing to help Iran and how Russia just [00:11] became [00:12] maybe part of the war yesterday in an [00:16] indirect way. Let me explain. There was [00:19] a [00:20] an airstrike that took place that the [00:22] Americans carried out that was very [00:24] different than the other airstrikes [00:25] they've been carrying out since this [00:27] recent escalation began. Take a look at [00:30] this headline. US strikes strategic [00:33] Iran-China-Russia [00:35] rail corridor bridge. And this has been [00:37] reported everywhere. I'm I'm using [00:39] Iranian state media for this. The United [00:42] States launched a cruise missile strike [00:43] early Thursday targeting the [00:45] Aktau-Khorasan [00:47] railway bridge in Akkala County, [00:50] Golestan Province. A strategic link on [00:53] the China-Turkmenistan-Iran [00:56] rail corridor used for trade between [00:59] China, Russia, and Iran. So, America [01:02] struck this this critical bridge. Let's [01:05] read the article and then we'll look at [01:07] a map and we'll talk about The bridge is [01:08] located on the international [01:10] China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Incheh-Borun [01:14] railway route, which enters Iran through [01:17] its northeastern border and connects [01:19] Gorgan to Tehran. The route forms part [01:23] of China's Belt and Road Initiative [01:25] extending from Xi'an to Tehran. [01:28] According to the report at least at [01:29] least 65 freight trains traveled from [01:32] China to Iran via the corridor last [01:35] year. Following the maritime blockade of [01:38] Iranian ports, foreign media reported [01:40] that rail traffic on the route tripled. [01:43] Let me read that sentence again, folks. [01:46] Following the maritime blockade of [01:48] Iranian ports, foreign media reported [01:50] that rail traffic on the route tripled. [01:54] The blockade on Iranian ports [01:57] led to more overland shipping from China [02:01] into Iran. [02:04] It tripled on this rail route. The [02:06] report also states that Russia began [02:08] transporting goods to Iran through the [02:10] same railway corridor in November 2025. [02:13] Let me remind you, that's just this past [02:15] November. It's after the 12-day war. [02:18] It's right around the time that the [02:19] Iranian people were starting to take to [02:21] the streets. [02:22] Leading analysts to describe the strike [02:24] as more than a conventional military [02:27] attack. [02:28] The attack marks one of the deepest US [02:30] strikes inside Iranian territory since [02:32] the start of the conflict. Since the [02:34] ceasefire, US operations had primarily [02:36] focused on military targets in southern [02:39] Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, making [02:42] the targeting of infrastructure near the [02:44] Turkmenistan border a notable shift. [02:47] Iran has previously repaired damaged [02:50] rail infrastructure in a short period [02:52] during attacks on on April 7th, 2026. [02:56] That's the day before the initial [02:58] ceasefire. Six railway bridges in [03:00] Tehran, Alborz, Qom, Isfahan, Zanjan, [03:02] and East Azerbaijan were targeted. [03:05] Iranian engineers restored all six [03:07] bridges and resumed railway operations [03:09] in less than 96 hours. [03:11] According to the latest announcement by [03:13] the head of Iran's railway company, [03:14] engineers restored one of the damaged [03:17] railway lines near Mashhad in less than [03:19] 13 hours after the latest US attack, and [03:22] train services has have resumed. Okay, [03:23] that's part of their bluster saying that [03:25] everything's fine, everything's fine, [03:26] everything's fine. [03:28] Let's first of all go back to April 7th [03:30] and what happened there. That was [03:31] in the final days, final weeks and days [03:34] of the 40 days of attacks from February [03:37] 28th until the war was stopped on April [03:41] 8th. [03:43] In those final days, [03:44] the especially the Israelis had turned [03:46] their attention to starting to strike [03:48] civilian infrastructure. Cuz the [03:50] Israelis were moving more towards uh [03:53] degrading the regime, moving more [03:55] towards what would bring down the [03:56] regime. [03:58] So, you see that a whole bunch of the uh [03:59] of the infrastructure, the railways [04:01] started to be targeted. Let's talk about [04:03] this railway in particular. So, in this [04:06] in this article, it includes a a a [04:07] little map [04:08] of the of the Russia of the Russia piece [04:11] of the railway. So, [04:13] um [04:14] here's a little graphic here, and you [04:16] see that here's Russia, [04:19] and here's Iran down here in [04:20] Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and the [04:22] railway runs around this way, [04:25] and comes down, and it hooks up [04:27] somewhere around here with the railway [04:29] that goes out to Iran. Right? So, let me [04:33] pull up a different map. So, if you see [04:35] on a map here, here's Iran, here's [04:36] Turkmenistan. This little uh red spot [04:39] here, this is where the attacks took [04:41] place yesterday. [04:43] Right on the Turk- the Turkmenistan [04:45] border. Now, what is so significant [04:47] about this and they're pointing to in [04:48] the article is that the Strait of Hormuz [04:50] is down here. [04:51] This is Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is in [04:53] the southern part of Iran, all the way [04:55] in the bottom, south southern southern [04:57] eastern Iran. And all of the American [04:59] attacks that we've seen over the last [05:00] couple months since the ceasefire, with [05:02] all the skirmishes in the Strait of [05:03] Hormuz, including this current [05:04] escalation, they've all been down in [05:07] here. [05:08] Okay? They've been in Bandar Abbas, [05:10] they've been in uh [05:12] in Sirik and Bandar al Jask. All of [05:15] these places along here, this is what [05:17] they have been attacking. [05:19] And this is a totally different part of [05:22] the country, all the way in the [05:24] northeastern border up here. And you [05:26] have you know, Mashhad is out here. This [05:29] is the area that they now you know, [05:31] Golestan province, that's the [05:32] northernmost province on the eastern [05:34] side of of Iran. That's where this [05:36] strike took place. [05:38] Okay? So, this is from Intella News. US [05:41] strike on Iranian railway bridge, hits [05:43] China-Russia trade corridor near [05:45] Turkmenistan. The US struck the Ak Taka [05:48] Khan railway bridge [05:50] with cruise missiles hitting a hitting a [05:52] link on the rail corridor connecting [05:54] Iran to China and Russia. [05:56] This This strike marks one of the [05:58] deepest US attacks inside Iranian [05:59] territory, extending the target list [06:01] beyond military sites in the south to [06:04] trade infrastructure that Tehran has [06:06] leaned on to circumvent and sustain [06:09] overland links with Beijing and Moscow. [06:11] To I'm sorry, to circumvent sanctions [06:14] and the blockade. [06:16] So, this is different. [06:18] Okay, the bridge Let's learn a little [06:20] bit more about it. It sits on the [06:23] corridor, [06:26] which enters Iran from the northeast and [06:28] connects Gorgan to Tehran, according to [06:30] the report. The route forms part of [06:32] China's Belt and Road Initiative running [06:35] from Xi'an to Tehran. At least 65 trains [06:38] have traveled from China to Iran over [06:40] the past year. This is all what we saw [06:42] reported already. [06:44] The attack comes at a time when US [06:45] strikes since the ceasefire had focused [06:47] on military targets in southern Iran [06:49] near the Strait of Hormuz. So, this is [06:51] A, not a military target, and B, [06:54] it's nowhere near the Strait of Hormuz. [06:56] Targeting a bridge near the Turkmenistan [06:58] border represented one of the deepest US [07:00] strikes [07:02] uh into Iranian territory. Iranian rail [07:04] infrastructure has been struck before. [07:06] It mentions the the April 7th attacks, [07:09] et cetera. [07:11] Okay. [07:12] Now, let's learn a little bit more. [07:13] There's something called the Five [07:14] Nations Railway corridor that this is a [07:16] part of. [07:17] And it connects [07:19] uh Iran in the west through Afghanistan, [07:22] Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. Okay, [07:25] so let's look at a map. Here's Iran. [07:28] So, Turkme- [07:31] See it? [07:32] Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, [07:34] Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan. Here's China. [07:37] Okay, so this railway [07:39] the entry point into Iran is what was [07:43] attacked yesterday. [07:44] And [07:45] and it made a point in all the articles [07:48] to mention that it's also used by the [07:50] Russians cuz the way the Russians hook [07:52] up with the Belt and Road is [07:57] is to come down this way and hook up [07:59] with it here. [08:01] Okay, they don't go down through Iran. [08:03] The Russians don't want to be hooking up [08:04] to the Belt and Road through Iran. [08:06] Uh if they came down through Azerbaijan [08:09] and hooked up through Iran then they'd [08:10] be depending on Iran [08:12] for their connection to the Belt and [08:13] Road. So Russia connects with the Belt [08:15] and Road this way. Okay, it comes down [08:17] this way. All right, you can see this. [08:18] There's a There's a map they included [08:20] here. You see the way the Russians come [08:21] down into Iran. You know, it's it's [08:23] obviously much more direct for the [08:25] Russians to come down this way, but they [08:26] don't because that if that was their [08:28] railway, then their connection to the [08:30] Belt and Road would run through Iran. [08:32] Uh here's another graphic that they [08:34] included here. [08:36] Um [08:38] Oh, no, far Sorry. Okay. So that is [08:42] So now we understand that why you know, [08:44] that Russia and China have been have [08:47] been uh [08:48] have been connected to Iran this way. [08:50] But what have they been doing with this [08:51] connection? [08:52] So there's been a lot of reports and [08:54] rumors that the Russians have been [08:56] helping the Iranians rebuild their air [08:59] defenses and rebuild other [09:00] infrastructure and it brings true even [09:03] if not everything's been reported [09:04] because of a few stories I'm going to [09:06] show you. Take a look at this one and [09:08] these are all very recent. June 17th. So [09:11] a few weeks ago, less than a month ago. [09:12] Iran signs a signs agreement to purchase [09:15] 20 helicopters from Russia. That means [09:17] that in the middle This is the day the [09:19] MOU was signed between the US and Iran. [09:21] In the middle of all these negotiations, [09:23] this is what the Iranians are planning [09:25] to do with their money. [09:27] We talk about giving sanctions relief or [09:29] unfreezing Iranian assets. On June 17th [09:32] last month, they're signing an agreement [09:34] to purchase 20 helicopters from Russia. [09:36] The Iranian Red Crescent Society and the [09:38] Russian Helicopters JSC JSC have [09:41] officially signed a memorandum of [09:42] understanding for the procurement of 20 [09:45] helicopters for the Islamic Republic of [09:46] Iran. [09:48] Um [09:53] It was described as a [09:56] as an unprecedented milestone in the [09:57] history of the Iranian Red Crescent [09:59] Society. [10:01] First four helicopters. [10:03] Okay. The helicopters are equipped with [10:05] modern technology, night vision systems [10:07] enabling night flight operations. [10:09] They're outfitted for firefighting [10:11] operations and providing medical and [10:12] emergency rescue services. Yeah, yeah, [10:14] yeah, they've no military use. They're [10:15] just for They're just for medical [10:17] purposes. Here's Russia selling [10:19] helicopters [10:21] to Iran. [10:22] And we have this from 2 days later. [10:25] Russian experts to return soon to [10:27] Bushehr nuclear power plant project. [10:31] Iran's Deputy Minister of Energy has [10:32] announced that Tehran and Moscow have [10:34] reached an agreement for the prompt [10:35] return of Russian nuclear specialists to [10:37] Iran where they will resume work on the [10:40] construction of units 2 and 3 of the [10:42] Bushehr nuclear power plant. [10:46] Okay, so the Russians have been have [10:48] been [10:49] itching to get back in [10:51] uh to [10:53] you know, to to to continue re- you [10:56] know, building or rebuilding the Bushehr [10:58] nuclear power plant. Russian Ministry of [11:00] Energy has expressed readiness to assist [11:02] in the reconstruction of Iran's energy [11:04] facilities that were damaged in recent [11:05] attacks. [11:07] Russian envoy This is from uh just uh [11:11] June 28th, just the end of uh the end of [11:14] June. Less than 2 weeks ago. Moscow [11:17] ready to help rebuild Iran's war-damaged [11:19] infrastructure. Russia's prepared to [11:21] assist Iran in rebuilding infrastructure [11:23] damaged during the US and Israeli [11:25] attacks. Ambassador to Tehran, Alexey [11:28] Dedov, said Dedov said Russian [11:30] industrial and construction firms, [11:32] engineering and design institutes, and [11:34] scientific and technology centers [11:36] possess the expertise needed for [11:37] reconstruction. [11:39] Upon receiving an official request from [11:40] Tehran, Moscow is ready to promptly [11:43] assess reconstruction needs. [11:46] Etcetera, etc. Iran and Russia signed a [11:47] $25 billion agreement in September 2025 [11:51] to build the four-unit 5,000 MW Hormoz [11:54] nuclear power plant, which is planned [11:57] near the cities of Minab and Sirik in [11:59] Hormozgan province right near the right [12:02] on the Strait of Hormuz. [12:04] And [12:05] you know, so so we see that the Russians [12:07] are very much engaged and involved and [12:10] invested in rebuilding Iran's [12:11] infrastructure and selling them [12:13] equipment. Uh they had this and they had [12:16] this this train route. And by the way, [12:18] the train route from from uh [12:21] from Russia [12:22] into Iran that I showed you only began [12:25] operating [12:26] in early November, [12:28] late October, early November of 2025. [12:31] Okay, it's actually brand new. Meaning [12:33] that it was really inaugurated, kind of [12:35] put into prac you know, put into use [12:37] after the 12-day war. [12:39] >> [snorts] [12:40] >> They [12:41] they built this this overland route. [12:44] And [12:45] it's been in heavy use ever since the [12:48] Americans put a blockade on Iran. [12:51] So both the Iranians and the Chinese [12:52] have been shipping a lot of material [12:55] into Iran. Like I said, there are very [12:57] strong rumors that this has included [12:59] weapons, weapons components. They tend [13:01] to ship a lot of these things in pieces [13:03] and then they get assembled [13:05] uh [13:06] on the on the other side. [13:08] And so he so here this this gives us a [13:11] different perspective on what the [13:12] Americans did by striking this uh this [13:16] bridge, this critical point on this on [13:20] this railway line where both from the [13:22] Chinese side coming from the east and [13:24] from the Russian side coming down from [13:25] the north, that's where this railway it [13:28] meets up and it enters into Iran. That's [13:30] where the Americans struck to cut off [13:33] this uh this uh [13:36] this shipping route. [13:38] And that may signal to us that the US is [13:41] not just hitting civilian [13:42] infrastructure, but really looking to [13:45] put the blockade back on and this time [13:47] make it more serious. Maybe maybe that's [13:49] what it's signaling here. [13:50] Because the overland routes, both this [13:53] both this rail route and the overland [13:55] routes from Pakistan into Iran, [13:58] significantly undermined the blockade. [14:00] Even though Trump always talked about [14:01] how hermetic the blockade was, it was [14:03] from the standpoint of of uh of ships [14:06] coming into ports. That's true. [14:08] But the overland shipping routes, [14:10] uh as we saw, they accelerated the use [14:13] of them. [14:14] Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, uh [14:16] there was a there was a resolution that [14:18] was proposed [14:20] uh by the United Arab Emirates and [14:22] others [14:23] uh to [14:25] basically it it it was a declaration a [14:27] UAE and Singapore sponsored resolution [14:29] on the freedom of navigation in the [14:31] Strait of Hormuz was presented at the [14:32] United Nations maritime body on [14:34] Wednesday, two days ago. [14:36] Delegates at the International Maritime [14:38] Organization said the resolution sent an [14:40] important signal about the open rules of [14:42] global economy and safety. [14:44] >> [snorts] [14:44] >> The sponsors call for protection of [14:46] vital shipping lanes, including [14:47] upholding and respecting navigational [14:49] rights and freedoms for commercial ships [14:51] when transiting through the Straits of [14:53] Hormuz [14:54] or for straits using international [14:56] navigation. [14:58] The UN's body the UN body's leader [15:00] condemned the resumption of attacks in [15:01] the Strait as a dangerous escalation. I [15:04] condemn the attacks over the past two [15:05] days against several ships transiting [15:07] the Strait of Hormuz, [15:09] said the uh International Maritime [15:11] Organization Secretary-General. [15:14] And so, that's what this resolution was [15:16] and then uh many many countries started [15:19] signing up for it [15:21] and it got [15:23] rejected by China and Russia. China and [15:28] Russia rejected what they described as [15:29] an anti-Iran narrative contained in the [15:32] document proposed by the United Arab [15:33] Emirates during a meeting of the Council [15:35] of the International Maritime [15:37] Organization. [15:38] According to the Chinese and Russian [15:39] delegations, the document presented at [15:41] the IMO Council is one-sided and places [15:44] blame on Iran. [15:48] Russia's representative was more [15:51] said that the UAE's document is deeply [15:53] politically biased, places full [15:55] responsibility for the crisis solely on [15:57] Iran, and ignores its underlying causes. [16:00] So, [16:02] that's what I wanted to share with you [16:03] in this video. [16:04] Um, [16:05] that the Russians are very actively [16:08] helping the Iranians, the Russians and [16:10] Chinese as well, but the Russians are [16:11] very actively helping the Iranians. [16:14] They've been helping them with their [16:15] nuclear energy infrastructure. They've [16:17] been helping them by shipping in all [16:20] kinds of equipment, by selling them [16:21] equipment. Uh, there's also, uh, [16:24] uh, there's also been indications that [16:27] the Iranians are are in the process of [16:29] purchasing airplanes from Russia these [16:32] days. [16:33] Uh, and, uh, you know, there's so [16:35] there's a lot there's a lot to be [16:36] concerned with about the China-Russia [16:38] relationship. In fact, maybe I should [16:39] pull that up here. [16:45] Yeah, let's pull that up. There's a [16:46] there's a news item about Iran [16:49] purchasing uh, [16:51] aircraft [16:53] from Russia recently. [16:55] Here we go. [16:56] Um, [16:59] look at this. [17:00] Russia to slow SU fighter deliveries to [17:03] its Air Force as industry focuses on [17:06] arming Iran. This is from July 9th, [17:09] yesterday. The Russian Aerospace Forces [17:11] are projected to receive SU-35 fighter [17:13] aircraft at a significantly lower rate [17:15] in 2026 and 2027 as the production [17:18] capacity [17:20] at the plant is focused on meeting large [17:22] export orders from Iran. [17:28] The factory was reported in early July [17:30] to have completed production of 20 of [17:31] the fighters for the Iranian Air Force [17:33] with 28 additional fighters having been [17:36] ordered to provide Iran with a total [17:37] fleet of 48 SU-35s. [17:41] The SU-35 is a is a very advanced [17:42] aircraft. [17:44] Um let's see what it says down here. [17:47] Um [17:49] I think it talks about them. Here it is. [17:53] The [17:55] The Yeah, the SU-35 is the most advanced [17:57] Russian aircraft, basically. [17:59] Uh it it's um and and they've they've It [18:02] also It also talks about how they [18:03] purchased other aircraft, other lesser [18:05] aircraft. Um the Iranian Defense [18:08] Ministry ordered 12 SU uh SU-30 fighter [18:12] aircraft, a less complex derivative of [18:14] the same of the same type of aircraft, [18:17] basically. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo. [18:19] Uh I'm going to wrap this up here. [18:21] The Russians have been selling uh [18:22] aircraft, uh [18:24] whether it's uh whether it's fighter [18:25] jets, whether it's uh helicopters, [18:28] they've been shipping things into Iran. [18:31] They've been sending in their men to [18:33] help rebuild the nuclear facilities, [18:35] uh to help rebuild infrastructure. [18:37] They're committed to helping Iran in a [18:39] whole host of ways. And this uh attack [18:43] by the Americans [18:44] I'm not saying it was sending a signal [18:46] to the Russians. The United States [18:47] doesn't have to send them signals, but [18:48] it was trying to cut off that overland [18:51] shipping route. Um and uh it it it What [18:55] it signals to me [18:57] is that the American attacks now are not [19:01] only about cutting off uh the Iranian [19:05] control of the Strait of Hormuz, because [19:07] all the other attacks we saw were all [19:09] around the Strait of Hormuz, and this [19:11] signals something different. Let's see [19:12] if it's a sign of some things to come or [19:14] if it's an isolated incident. Either [19:16] way, it is certainly worth noting. All [19:18] right, we'll leave it there. Thanks for [19:20] watching.
