Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Meets Iran's Special Envoy

The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, met in Baku with Iran's special envoy for Caspian Sea issues to discuss the division of oil resources in the sea. Local media, quoting Mahdi Safari, report that there is hope for progress in these negotiations. Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the legal regime of the Caspian Sea has been a point of contention among the five bordering countries. During the Soviet era, the legal regime of the Caspian Sea was determined by bilateral treaties between Iran and the Soviet Union. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union created three new countries along the Caspian Sea: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, each seeking a share of the sea's resources. Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan nearly led to military action last summer when Iranian warships threatened an Azerbaijani exploratory oil vessel. The seabed of the Caspian Sea contains some of the largest reserves of oil and natural gas, while the beluga sturgeon, a source of the world's most expensive caviar, lives in its waters. Mr. Safari is expected to meet with Heydar Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, on Wednesday.