Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr S. Aghayeva / The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan met in Teheran on the 20th of June. They are disputing issues relating to the determination of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. According to the data provided by IRNA, the meeting which is held at the Institute of Political and International Researches of Iran was opened by Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchohr Mottaki. The Ministers of the five countries are viewing the issues on the property of the bio resources of the sea. The Ministers will consider the preparations to the forthcoming summit of the Presidents of the Caspian countries. Only Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan have agreed on the midlines of the sea. The final draft of the declaration on the cooperation in the Caspian Sea will be developed by the second summit of the Caspian countries.
Azerbaijan is represented at the meeting by the Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister will hold meetings with Iranian officials within the framework of the visit. They will discuss the urgent issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran, Abbasali Hasanov, reported on the 19th of June from Teheran. The Azerbaijani Minister has intentions to meet with the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Speaker of Iranian parliament, Gulamali Haddad-Adel, and the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchohr Mottaki.
The sides are expected to exchange their points of view on the preparations to the forthcoming official visit of the Iranian President to Azerbaijan. The Russian proposal to the United States on the joint exploitation of Azerbaijani Gabala Radar Station, which is leased by Russia, as well as security in the region, will be discussed at the meetings.