All littoral states agree on non-presence of outsiders in Caspian Sea: Iranian President

Caspian Sea

02 July 2022; Tehran (ISNA) - Iranian President said that preventing the presence of outsiders in the Caspian Sea is agreed by all its coastal countries and stressed, "Cooperation between countries in the fields of transport and transit, trade, management of marine resources and environment will be reviewed in the Sixth Summit of the Caspian Littoral States".

Speaking to reporters about the purpose of his visit to Turkmenistan on Wednesday before leaving Tehran for Ashgabat, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi said, "This visit is taking place at the invitation of the esteemed President of the brotherly and friendly country of Turkmenistan in order to attend the Summit of the Caspian Littoral States".

The President called the Caspian Sea a common heritage and capital for its littoral states and more than 270 million people living in the region, and added, "We have good relations with the littoral states of the Caspian Sea, but in addition to reviewing the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and peaceful use of the sea for the purpose of improving security at the sea, what will be discussed at the Sixth Summit of the Caspian Sea Littoral States is cooperation between countries in the fields of transport, transit, trade, management of marine living resources, environment, as well as preventing the presence of outsiders in the sea, which is also agreed upon by all coastal countries".

Ayatollah Raisi further said, "In addition to participating in this summit and talks with the leaders of the littoral states, we will also have bilateral talks following the previous talks with the President of Turkmenistan".

Referring to the very good relations between Iran and Turkmenistan in the last 30 years, President Raisi stated, "Despite the obstacles that coronavirus and some other issues have created in the relations between the two countries over the past few months, today we see that in addition to transit and gas swaps, strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries is also on the agenda".

Stating that the indicators show that the level of relations has increased in the past few months, especially in the field of economic and trade between the two countries, Ayatollah Raisi added, "We hope that this visit can establish and expand the cordial cooperation that exists between the two countries in playing a role in regional and international fields".