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TEHRAN, April 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Iranian
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hamid Reza Asefi on Monday voiced his
country's opposition to any
foreign forces in the Caspian region and
said that their presence
will only complicate the situation there, the
IRAN news agency
reported.
The spokesman stressed that
the foreign forces, invited by some
littoral states, will not help
settle existing issues, saying that
the Caspian Sea should be a "sea
of peace, friendship and
cooperation."
Asefi also
urged regional states to settle their differences
through cooperation
and coordination.
Underlining the need for adoption of a
legal regime to govern
the energy-rich waters, Asefi said that any
kind of cooperation
among littoral states would only be recognized or
become effective
until the states decide on a legal
regime.
"Useful and constructive discussions among leaders
of the
Caspian littoral states should be encouraged," he said, adding
that
Iran looks forward to a solution that takes into account the
interests of all the regional countries as a whole.
A
two-day summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states, held in the
Turkmen
capital of Ashkhabad to discuss ways of carving up the sea,
wound up
last Wednesday without any deal.
However, presidents of
the five coastal countries, namely Iran,
Russia, Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, voiced their
readiness to hold future talks
to determine the Caspian legal
regime.
During the
summit, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami reiterated
Iran's view that
common sovereignty on the sea is "the best choice"
for the littoral
states while voicing opposition to any unilateral
action on tapping
the waters, the third largest energy reserves in
the world after the
Gulf region and Siberia.
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