Iran Urges Fair Shares in Caspian Sea Legal Regime
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A long-awaited legal regime on the Caspian Sea should allocate fair shares to the littoral states, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said, stressing that certain countries need to back down from their positions to bring about a compromise.
The Caspian Sea legal regime should be devised in a fair manner and observe the rights of all littoral nations, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asian and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour said on the sidelines of the 40th meeting of the special working group of the Caspian Sea, held in Tehran on Monday.
Commenting on about 20 years of negotiations on the Caspian Sea legal regime, Rahimpour said there have been "much better" agreements among the five littoral nations (Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan) over the past year than before.
He said differences still remain on "sensitive issues", expressing the hope that the parties could reach a compromise in a win-win approach on four or five remaining sensitive issues until the next summit, due to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
"It means that certain countries should back down from their positions to make an agreement possible. This is a policy we pursue in all meetings," the Iranian diplomat explained.
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.
