BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 12. Iran has called for the Caspian littoral states to establish mechanisms for the prompt exchange of information on the Caspian Sea.
This was stated by a representative of Iran at a scientific-practical conference in Ashgabat, the press service of the Turkmen government reported on August 12.
The Iranian side emphasized the importance of further strengthening five-party cooperation among the Caspian littoral states in protecting the sea.
"Among the current tasks are environmental monitoring, data exchange, scientific cooperation and the establishment of a permanent secretariat of the Tehran Convention," the representative said.
According to the press release, particular attention was paid to the decline in the water level of the Caspian Sea. Iran called for the Caspian littoral states to coordinate their efforts, establish mechanisms for prompt information exchange and develop joint measures to mitigate the negative consequences of the process.
The Iranian representative also confirmed Tehran's readiness to host the seventh Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention on September 23, 2026.
Iran also supported Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov's initiative to hold a special environmental summit on the Caspian Sea and emphasized the importance of preserving the Caspian as a space for peace, friendship and cooperation.
The call for closer coordination comes as the five Caspian littoral states are dealing with issues that increasingly link environmental protection with navigation, energy and regional infrastructure. The Caspian Sea has lost around two meters in water level since the 1990s, according to the UN Environment Programme, while continued decline is expected to affect ports, fisheries, coastal communities and biodiversity. The changes therefore extend beyond environmental policy and can influence how the countries plan and operate infrastructure around the sea.
This makes the development of common rules and information-sharing mechanisms particularly relevant. The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan in Aktau in 2018, provides a framework covering navigation, transport, seabed resources, submarine pipelines and cables, environmental protection and security. The convention has been ratified by four of the five countries, with Iran the remaining state yet to complete ratification. On August 10, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran considers ratification appropriate and that the issue should now be decided by parliament.
At the same time, ratification of the legal-status convention would not by itself settle every outstanding question between the littoral states. Baghaei specifically pointed to the unresolved issue of the Caspian's "starting line," which Iran links to the question of how seabed and subsoil areas can be determined. He said discussions on this matter with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan had taken place and should continue in bilateral formats. This distinction is important because the broader legal framework and the practical delimitation of specific maritime areas are connected processes, but they are not the same process.
Meanwhile, environmental cooperation is becoming more directly connected to economic projects. A protocol on transboundary environmental impact assessment under the Tehran Convention entered into force in November 2025, allowing a Caspian state to request assessment of major projects in another littoral country when they may have cross-border environmental effects. The rules cover projects including pipelines, oil refineries and transport infrastructure.
