Iran will host senior officials from the five Caspian Sea littoral states at a conference in Tehran on 23 September, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and addressing environmental challenges facing the sea.
Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday that Tehran would host a conference of “top-ranking” officials from the Caspian Sea littoral states on 23 September.
“It would provide an opportunity for bilateral and multilateral talks and help strengthen regional cooperation,” he said at a ceremony marking the National Day of the Caspian Sea, observed on 12 August.
The date marks the entry into force in 2006 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, also known as the Tehran Convention.
“Following the agreement of the coastal states – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan,” Gharibabadi added, “the ground is set for convention of the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention”.
Tehran had proposed hosting a Caspian summit on 12 August 2026 to commemorate Caspian Sea Day, but the event could not be convened because of conditions following the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran.
The Iranian official also said that recent hostilities had further increased the Caspian Sea’s geopolitical and strategic significance.
“Regional security should be maintained by the five coastal states,” Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
His statements came after an Iranian commercial vessel was hit by a Ukrainian military drone in Russian territorial waters in the Caspian Sea in July, killing one sailor aboard.
Iran shares a 650-kilometre coastline along the southern Caspian Sea. Last November, it hosted the first Forum of Caspian Sea Governors-General in Rasht, the capital of Iran’s Caspian province of Gilan.
The conference discussed a wide range of topics, including the economy, investment and regional development, as well as the environment, fisheries and restoration of the Caspian Sea ecosystem. Transit, logistics and development of the International North-South Transport Corridor were also discussed.
Gharibabadi also urged the five Caspian littoral states to fulfil their responsibilities to protect the world's largest inland body of water, warning that neglect could cause irreparable damage.
"Since our friendly and neighbouring country Turkmenistan has proposed to hold a summit on the environment and to examine the phenomenon of the decline in the Caspian water level on October 8 in Ashgabat and in the Avaza region of Turkmenistan, we welcomed this proposal."
The senior Iranian diplomat added: “Declining Caspian water levels, pollution, climate change, and weakening of the ecosystem can directly affect the lives of coastal communities, economic activities, fisheries, transportation, ports, and coastal infrastructure.”
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