TEHRAN (FNA) - Iranian and Russian officials underlined the need for studying major issues related to the Caspian Sea's legal regime only in the presence of all the five littoral states.

Iranian Envoy to Moscow Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi held a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Kerasin Monday night and conferred with him on bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.
The status of the oil and gas rich inland sea has been a source of disagreement among the littoral states since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Caspian Sea is estimated to contain between 17 billion and 33 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
Sajjadi and Kerasin also urged for an increase in the level of the two countries' cooperation and relations, specially with regard to joint projects.
Meantime, the Russian official referred to the upcoming meeting between Iran and the Group 5+1 in Turkey on October 1, and expressed the hope that the problems regarding Iran's peaceful nuclear program would be resolved.
The seven-partied meeting is the first since July last year, when the then US President, George W. Bush, sent Burns to a similar but inconclusive meeting with Iran in Geneva.
Also, the meeting between Iran and the West comes after Iran presented a set of fresh proposals to the West earlier this month. Analysts believe that the package, which is an all-embracing package offering cooperation between Iran and the West on solutions to a wide variety of global issues, has paved the way for the talks.