Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 12 / Trend T. Jafarov /
The Third Summit of the Heads of the Caspian littoral countries in Baku in November testifies about the rapprochement of the positions of the parties to the problematic issues concerning the Caspian theme, Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister, special representative for Caspian Sea affairs of the Iranian President, said.
"The determination of the legal status of Caspian Sea is very important. It should be resolved on the basis of unity of positions," Akhundzadeh told Trend.
There are delays in determining the status of the sea because the sides are still coordinating their positions, Special Representative of the Iranian President said.
All Caspian littoral countries have the political will to resolve the issue, he said.
Akhundzadeh expressed hope that over 30 percent of the disputed issues will be solved at the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers of the Caspian countries in Tehran.
Deputy foreign ministers of the five Caspian countries met in Baku on Tuesday.
The coastal countries signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern Caspian Sea to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998 and Protocol to the Agreement in May 2002.
The agreement was signed between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and the appropriate protocol on November 29, 2001 and February 27, 2003.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the junction point of the delimitation of the contiguous sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.