Hassan Rouhani and Vladimir Putin, the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, respectively, met on Sunday on the sidelines of the 5th Caspian Sea Littoral States Summit in Kazakhstan and discussed the most important bilateral, regional, and international issues.
The two heads of states stressed the importance of further development of Tehran-Moscow relations in various fields.
President Rouhani also described deepening of relations and cooperation beneficial for both nations and said “we should attempt to turn Caspian Sea into the sea of peace and friendship and a base for further cementing of relations, cooperation and friendship,” asserted President Rouhani after saying that deepening of relations and cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was beneficial for both nations.
“Bilateral and multilateral cooperation of Iran and Russia in different regional and international matters, including regional security and fighting terrorism and ISIL in Syria have had positive regional effects and this cooperation should continue until the full eradication of terrorism,” he added.
At the same meeting, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation refereed to the developing relations between the two countries and said “Moscow is ready to further develop relations and cooperation with Tehran in areas of interest to both sides.”
He also described the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) an important international agreement and emphasized the importance of all parties’ efforts to preserve the deal after the unilateral withdrawal of US from it.
Putin stressed that the two countries of Iran and Russia should continue their consultations and exchanging views to resolve regional and international issues and problems.
The presidents of the five coastal states of the Caspian Sea- Iran, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan- met on Sunday in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Aktau at the fifth Caspian summit to take stock of many years of negotiations on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The heads of states signed the convention of the legal status of the Caspian Sea in the summit and 5 agreements to expand regional cooperation.
The first meeting of the Caspian states’ leaders was held in Ashgabat in 2002, and the other summits were convened in Tehran, Baku and Astrakhan.
The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world and accounts for 40 to 44 percent of the total lacustrine waters of the world. The coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.
The question of determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea have gained relevance after the collapse of the USSR, when the emergence of new subjects of international law — Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan — raised the question of the delimitation of the Caspian between the five countries. The difficulty of determining the status of the Caspian sea are related, in particular, with the recognition of its lake or sea, the delimitation of which is governed by different provisions of international law.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, heading a politico-legal delegation, arrived in Kazakhstan’s Aktau on Saturday and took part at the Caspian littoral states’ ministerial meeting.
Kazakhstan’s Aktau, the venue for this year’s summit, is a city with a population of 180,000, whose residents greatly depend on the production and processing of Caspian resources.
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