The number of requests for shipping goods to Iran via the port of Makhachkala has increased amid the war.

Demand for shipping goods to Iran via the Makhachkala Commercial Port has increased since the outbreak of military action in that country. Since the beginning of March, 50,000 tons of grain have been shipped.

From March 1 to 22, 2026, approximately 50,000 tons of grain were exported to Iran via the Makhachkala Commercial Sea Port. This primarily consisted of corn—44,900 tons—along with 1,900 tons of barley for feed and 2,800 tons of food soybeans, the government of Dagestan reported today.

The products shipped to Iran originated from Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, and other regions of Russia.

Cooperation between the Makhachkala Commercial Sea Port and Iran is developing primarily in the dry cargo segment. The company's strategy includes the construction of a grain terminal with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year. Full capacity is expected to be reached in 2028, the report says.

The Makhachkala Commercial Sea Port has recorded an increase in requests for cargo transportation with Iran, despite the ongoing military actions in the Middle East, said the port's general director, Jamal Aliyev.

"Despite the ongoing military activities in Iran and around the Persian Gulf, requests to transship certain cargoes have increased," TASS quoted him as saying.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, on March 20, the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova reported that in Dagestan, specialists are measuring the level three times a day radiation in connection with the situation in Iran. Earlier, on March 18, it was reported that a shell had hit the Iranian Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. According to Rosatom, the strike occurred near the plant's first unit, damaging one of the facilities not related to the nuclear cycle. Rospotrebnadzor did not report radiation levels recorded in Dagestan.

Dagestan is not at risk of radiation contamination from strikes on nuclear power plants or uranium enrichment centers in Iran, but monitoring radiation levels in the republic is important due to the proximity of other nuclear facilities, analysts noted.

On February 28, Israel and the United States began strikes on Iran. Donald Trump announced the start of a large-scale military operation. In response, Iran launched attacks on Israel, American military installations, and civilian targets in the Middle East, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Key Issues on the Impact of the Military Conflict with Iran on the Caucasus."

The Caucasian Knot has compiled materials on the impact of military action in Iran on the Caucasus on its thematic page "Iran: War Is Near." Also published on the "Caucasian Knot" is a chronicle of the war in Iran.