From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon May 22 2000 - 11:16:16 EDT
TEHRAN EXPECTS CASPIAN WORKING GROUP TO CONVENE THIS SUMMER
MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - Iranian ambassador to Moscow Mehdi
Safari has said he believes the next session of the five-party group
working on the legal status of the Caspian at the deputy foreign
minister level will be held in Tehran this summer.
At a Monday meeting with the Russian press and public, Safari
ascribed the postponement of the meeting initially slated for October
1999 to the need to achieve results at it.
He reminded his listeners that unlike other parties to the talks-
Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan-Iran favors the
"condominium principle," which implies joint ownership over the natural
resources of the Caspian by its coastal countries. Safari said his
country takes the view that "if the Caspian should be divided,
everything should be divided in equal proportions - the sea floor and
the water above it."
On the subject of the prospects in Iran's relations with Russia,
Safari said that the idea of a North-South transport corridor involving
four countries-Russia, Iran, India and Oman-is a stimulating factor for
the development of these ties. This land and water corridor "could
reduce the duration of freight transportation from India to Russia from
20 days to four," he said.
He went on to say that experts will discuss the project in Moscow
in June and that higher-ranking representatives of the potential
participant-countries will meet in July. Safari said he hopes the four-
party agreement concerning the transport corridor will be signed in
September.
Iran and Russia, he said, are also hammering out their cooperation
"in the sphere of communications satellites."
Tehran has upheld the policy of establishing long-term strategic
relations with Russia, "and hopes that the implementation of current and
future bilateral projects will boost the volume of economic relations to
$2 billion or $3 billion, up from today's $1 billion, Safari said.
As to Iran's position in regards to Chechnya, Safari said Tehran
"proceeds from respect for the territorial integrity of Russia and
regards Chechnya as an inseparable part of the Russian Federation."
"Despite the pressure from the entire Muslim world on Iran as the
chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, we have stated
that the problem is an internal Russian affair and will not interfere in
it in any way," Safari said.
For more details, see today's Diplomatic Panorama.
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