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Experts and specialists from various sectors of the coastal countries of the Caspian Sea are constantly negotiating on the development and coordination of the projects of five-sided documents, and even during the outbreak of the pandemic, these meetings continued in a virtual format. This was stated by the Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Gholam Abbas Arbab Khales, speaking at the scientific and practical conference in Avaza devoted to the Caspian Sea Day.

He reminded that on August 12, 2006, the Tehran Convention came into force, and this day was a turning point in the cooperation of the coastal countries, which thereby emphasized the importance of the issue of environmental protection of the Caspian Sea.

The Ambassador noted the importance of the early establishment of the Tehran Convention Secretariat in the region, which will bring the interaction of the five coastal states to a new level in the field of environmental management of the Caspian Sea and its living resources and will bring fruitful achievements to the future generations.

A big step was taken with the signing of the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, but such important issues as "definition of the water area zones" and "delimitation of the seabed and subsoil" of the Caspian Sea remain open and should be finalized, the diplomat urged.

Iran welcomes the approach to expanding cooperation between the coastal countries in order to strengthen stability, tranquility and peace in the Caspian Sea, Gholam Abbas Arbab Khales said. In his opinion, the development of economic cooperation, including transport and tourism, should be built with a priority on the environmental protection.

The Ambassador also reminded that in July of this year a meeting of ministers and high-ranking officials on environmental cooperation for a better future was held in Tehran, where President Raisi proposed to create a union or organization for environmental cooperation of the countries of Western Asia.

Gholam Abbas thanked the Turkmen delegation for participating in this forum, and also expressed the opinion on the importance of the participation of the United Nations and its relevant agencies in preserving the environment of the region, including the Caspian Sea, and overcoming regional environmental problems, such as climate change, desertification, and dust storms.

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