BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 8. Ratification of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea meets Iran's interests.
This was announced by Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi at a press conference organized by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian with reporters today.
"The convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea was sent to the Iranian parliament for a decision by the then government in 2018 and 2019. Four littoral countries have accepted the convention. Iran's acceptance of this convention depends on its ratification by the parliament," he pointed out.
Araghchi said that countries such as Russia want this convention to be implemented immediately.
The minister noted that the issue of Iran's share in the sea is not raised in the said convention. This issue is subject to discussions in bilateral and trilateral formats.
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.
