Russia seeks Iran's input on Caspian

MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has assured Iran that its views will be taken into consideration in any decisions on the final status of the Caspian.

The Iranian Labor News Agency reported Saturday that Lavrov wrote to Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, "Russia is of the conviction that any talks or decision makings on the Caspian Sea should be made unanimously and collectively by all five littoral states," emphasizing that close cooperation between the Caspian littoral states was essential to regional peace, stability and security.

Lavrov expressed hope that a third summit to be convened in Baku could assist in resolving the broad range of issues regarding the Caspian's legal status, in limbo since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Lavrov's letter was a response to Mottaki's protests at Iran's exclusion at an informal summit of the littoral states held between the presidents of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and Azerbaijan in the Kazakh Caspian coastal city of Aktau earlier this month to discuss issues of mutual interest.