Caspian Sea legal status discussed by littoral states in Tehran

Special representatives and deputy foreign ministers from Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are attending the two-day meeting of the 47th special working group of the Caspian Sea littoral states. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammd Javad Zarif also attended the meeting.

The representatives will exchange views on the draft convention of the legal regime of the Caspian Sea.

The working group of the Caspian Sea littoral states held its last meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana in July, 2016.

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on earth by area, and is variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.

The maritime and seabed boundaries of the Caspian Sea have yet to be demarcated among the five countries bordering the sea.

Despite extensive negotiations, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been unclear since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Currently, the Caspian Sea's legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the Soviet Union in 1921 and 1940.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the three new littoral states, established after the collapse of the Soviet Russia, do not recognize the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.

The littoral states have yet to come up with a final convention on the Caspian Sea, which will determine the territorial rights of littoral states as well as other matters related to the sea.

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