Iran’s Stance on Caspian Sea Unchanged: FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian foreign minister stressed that Tehran has not shifted its attitude towards the status of the Caspian Sea.
“Iran has not changed its position on the status of the Caspian Sea and we think there is no need for change,” Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by APA in Moscow.
The Iranian minister arrived in Moscow on Monday to partake in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Caspian Sea littoral countries.
Zarif further called for efforts to resolve the differences over the legal status of the Caspian Sea, stressing that any initiative should take into account the interests of the entire countries around the water body.
“The Caspian should be the sea of cooperation,” he stated.
In relevant comments upon his arrival in Russia on Monday, the top Iranian diplomat made a reference to the ongoing meeting of the foreign ministers of the Caspian Sea states, and said, “The discussions on the Caspian Sea, as a shared water body among its littoral countries, are among the significant issues pursued as of many years ago.”
He said participants in the Moscow meeting will make preparations for the 4th summit of the heads of Caspian Sea littoral states, which will be held in Russia this fall.
“Our colleagues have held several meetings in the course of the past few months on the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and they have achieved important results,” Zarif explained.
High-ranking diplomats from the nations that border the Caspian Sea (Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) have attended the gathering in Moscow.
Since the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Caspian littoral states have failed to agree on the sea’s legal status.
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed water body on earth by area, variously classed as the world’s largest lake or a full-fledged sea.
The Caspian Sea legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1921 and 1940. The three new littoral states, established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have not recognized the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.
