A convention related to the future finalization of Caspian Sea legal regime was signed by the five littoral states on Sunday in what is considered a geopolitical breakthrough in finding a new regime for the body of water after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan along with President Hassan Rouhani met in the Kazakh port city of Aktau to sign the convention, which deals with a range of issues related to the world's largest enclosed body of water.
Rouhani in a speech at the meeting called the convention a "major document" but noted that the delimitation of oil and gas rich Caspian seabed will require additional agreements, according to the text of his speech published by the presidential website.
Military Presence
He welcomed a stipulation in the convention that prevents non-Caspian countries from deploying military forces to the sea.
"In this convention, important principles such as emphasis on banning the presence of foreign armed forces and monopoly of any kind of navigation with the flags of the five littoral states and [prohibiting] foreigners [from] using the territories of the littoral states for acts of aggression against another littoral state have been mentioned."
He noted that the formation and handing over of military bases to foreign countries and the movement of warships and even transit of foreign military transit shipments belonging to a country other than the littoral states is banned.
Rouhani said the final adoption of the convention is contingent upon the completion of the necessary legal procedures in the five countries.
Building Economic Relations
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was seen as driving the deal, said the convention had "epoch-making significance" and called for more economic and military cooperation between the Caspian states, AFP reported.
He said leaders of the five states surrounding the Caspian Sea will establish an economic forum. "The decision to establish the Caspian economic forum will allow for the strengthening of contacts between business communities of our countries," Putin was quoted as saying by Russia's Sputnik state news agency.
Historic Event
The host, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said before the signing that the leaders were "participants in a historic event."
"We can admit that consensus on the status of the sea was hard to reach and not immediate, the talks lasted more than 20 years and called for a lot of joint efforts from the parties," he stated.
Parliamentary Approval
A senior lawmaker in Tehran said any agreement related to the legal status of the Caspian Sea should be approved by the Majlis.
"Under the law, any change in borders must be ratified by the Parliament," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told ISNA on Sunday.
He was critical of the fact that no representative from the key Majlis commission had been invited to accompany the president to at the Kazakh meeting.
Putting-Rouhani Meeting
The presidents of Russia and Iran met on the sidelines of the summit and discussed issues of mutual concern and regional developments.
Rouhani called for closer relations between the two neighbors in all areas, saying, "Bilateral and multilateral cooperation involving Iran and Russia on different regional and international issues, including regional security and the fight against IS terrorists in Syria have produced positive results, and this cooperation should continue until terrorism is eliminated."
Putin said Moscow is keen to increase the level of its ties with the Islamic Republic and reiterated his country's support for the Iran nuclear deal.
