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.