Text of Caspian Sea Legal Regime to Be Ready by Next Summit: Russian Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Russian President's Special Representative in Caspian Sea Affairs Igor Bratchikov predicted that the text of the sea's legal regime will be presented in the next meeting of the heads of Caspian littoral states in Kazakhstan.
Based on the guidelines proposed by the presidents ( of the Caspian Sea littoral states) in Astrakhan, Russia, it is predicted that the countries will be able to prepare the document until an upcoming meeting of their heads of states, Bratchikov said.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of the 40th meeting of the special working group of the Caspian Sea, which was held in Tehran on Sunday, with deputy foreign ministers of the five littoral states in attendance.
Referring to the Sunday meeting in Tehran, he said that the session had very good results, and the representatives managed to take very important steps.
At the working group session on the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan discussed the articles of a draft of the sea's legal regime.
The meetings are held periodically in the capital cities of the five littoral states. Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, hosted the previous session.
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 Convention will determine the territorial rights of littoral states as well as other matters related to the world's largest landlocked body of water.
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.
