Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov. 5 / Trend H.Hasanov /
A working group to develop a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea will hold its next meeting in the first quarter of 2010 in Tehran.
The working group has operated since 1996. The deputy foreign ministers of the littoral states - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran - participated in the meetings. The latest meeting concluded its work in Astana today.
The participants of the Ashgabat meeting appraised previous talks. The sides exchanged views and mulled questions on merchant shipping, preserving biological resources, security and delimitation, a source close to the negotiations said.
The status of the Caspian Sea is determined by the 1922 and 1940 treaties between the Soviet Union and Iran. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran have not agreed on the delimitation of the seabed. Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan have found a mutual understanding on this issue.