BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 3. The Iranian government is working to have the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed in 2018 between five littoral states, ratified by the Iranian parliament.
This was announced by the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, at a press conference in Tehran today.
"Since 2018, this convention has been thoroughly studied from legal, political, and other aspects. On July 22, 2026, this convention was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and then sent to the parliament," he said.
Baghaei noted that if Iran wants to join an important international document, it must carefully study its legal, political, and security aspects.
"Iran believes that the ratification of the document in the parliament will create conditions for cooperation between the Caspian littoral states and prevent the abuse of this water body by players outside the Caspian," he pointed out.
The ministry official added that any military participation of countries outside the region is prohibited in this convention. This convention does not mention the delimitation of maritime boundaries or the determination of the starting line. Negotiations on the determination of the starting line should be held in another framework.
"In general, the ratification of this convention by Iran will be necessary for its implementation because, for the implementation of the convention, all five coastal countries must ratify it. This will create appropriate conditions for strengthening cooperation and trust between the five coastal member countries," he added.
The Caspian Sea is approximately 1,200 km long, with a maximum width of 466 km and a minimum width of 204 km. The length of the sea's coastline is approximately 6,380 km. There are 5 littoral countries around the sea - Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
On August 12, 2018, at the 5th summit of the Caspian littoral countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan) in Aktau, Kazakhstan, the heads of state signed a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Although the convention has been ratified by the parliaments of 4 countries, it has not yet been ratified by the Iranian parliament.
The share of countries in the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is intended to be resolved within the framework of a bilateral agreement between the countries.
