Iran seeks peace, stability in Caspian region - foreign minister

MOSCOW, April 22 (Itar-Tass) - Iran’s top diplomat has said any non-littoral military presence in the Caspian region is inadmissible. “Maintaining the Caspian Sea as a water area of peace, friendship and stability; refraining from the arms race; giving up the use of force and the inadmissibility of non-littoral military presence are the major prerequisites for guaranteeing peace and stability in the region,” Iranian Foreign Javad Zarif said on Tuesday. He was speaking at a ministerial conference of the five Caspian littoral countries - Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on Tuesday. “Security itself will facilitate economic prosperity,” he said. Zarif said he was satisfied with the signing of an agreement on security in the region. “We would like to reach mutual understanding on ways of military construction and cooperation [in the region],” he said. “Unfortunately, certain non-regional players consider the Caspian Sea as the only source of oil and gas and forget about the environment,” Zarif said. “Iran believes that it is necessary to take steps that would meet multilateral long-term and joint interests,” he said. A new status of the Caspian Sea must meet the needs and expectations of the littoral countries’ peoples, Zarif said. Learn more on itar-tass.com