Bilateral consultations on Caspian Sea issues have been held between Iranian and Russian delegations in Moscow, hosted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Operative Information Center-OMM, citing the Mehr News Agency, reports that the meeting primarily focused on strengthening strategic and regional cooperation, as well as actions to be taken within the framework of the "Tehran Convention."
The delegations, led by Azami, head of the Caspian Sea Department of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sergey Kononuchenko, Russia's special representative on climate change, exchanged views on several critical issues. These included the organization of the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the "Tehran Convention" to be hosted by Iran, the establishment of the Convention's Secretariat within the region, the collective responsibility of littoral states in protecting the marine environment, and the implementation of protocols to combat the pollution of the Caspian Sea.
A key agenda item was the sharp decline in the water level of the Caspian Sea and the development of joint plans to mitigate the consequences of this process. The parties emphasized the vital importance of cooperation to prevent an ecological crisis in the world's largest inland body of water.
The Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, known as the Tehran Convention, serves as the first legally binding regional agreement signed by all five littoral states—Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. It provides a comprehensive framework for addressing environmental challenges, including biodiversity loss and industrial pollution. Azerbaijan remains an active participant in these regional efforts, consistently advocating for sustainable management and the protection of the Caspian Sea's unique ecosystem to ensure regional environmental security.
