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Most of the disagreements over the Caspian Sea issue exist between Iran and Azerbaijan, Armen Israyelyan, an expert on Iranian studies, said on Facebook, adding these days Russia is hosting a regular meeting of foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states, namely Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The key purpose of the meeting is to discuss issues over the legal status of the Caspian Sea emerged after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

According to the expert, following numerous meetings, the five Caspian littoral states have still failed to elaborate an issue over the sea status, which will become a subject of discussion for all sides, since Russia and Kazakhstan hold talks in one format, while Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan cooperate in a different format.

There is somewhat of a common denominator between Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan over the legal status of the Caspian Sea, with Iran and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and Iran and Turkmenistan still left to hold talks separately over the issue.

According to Mr. Israyelyan, in this context most of the issues exist between Iran and Azerbaijan regarding both delineation, mines and environmental issues. “Although it should be noted tensions sometimes arise between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan too,” he added.