Azerbaijan , Baku / Trend , corr. I. Alizadeh/ Afshar Suleymani , Iran Ambassador to Azerbaijan , said that there is some progress in the bilateral and multilateral negotiations held to determine the legal status of the Caspian Sea , Trend reports .
The Iranian Ambassador said that the parties had intentions to keep on negotiations "The position of the parties is approaching to one another," said Mr. Suleymani.
However, the Iranian diplomat did not give a concrete answer one the question whether Iran repudiated the principle on division by 20 %. "This issue is discussed during the meetings," said the Ambassador.
Mr. Suleymani said that the sitting of the expert group of the five Caspian countries was expected to be held in Tehran at the end of February, 2007. The text of the statement to be made during the summit of the Caspian states is expected to be discussed during the forthcoming meeting.
Mr. Suleymani said that the date of the summit had not been determined yet. " Iran has not put forwards concerning the date of the forthcoming meeting. It will depend on the preparation for the statement to be made during the meeting. The expert group has held two meetings. If necessary, they may hold another meeting. If the work on the statement is completed during the forthcoming Tehran meeting, then the date of the summit may be made more precise," said Mr. Suleymani.