TEHRAN -- Iran's special envoy on Caspian Sea Affairs Mehdi Safari said here on Saturday that Iran favors peaceful settlement of Caspian Sea issue immediately, IRNA reported.

Safari told a round-table meeting with IRNA, also attended by MP and member of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission at Majlis Elahe Koulaie, that difference in approaches and priorities have been preventing consensus among five littoral states on the division of the land-locked sea.

He rejected bilateral or trilateral agreements among littoral states, saying a five-way consensus among the states is an undeniable exigency.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is still considering shared exploitation of the Caspian Sea as the superior choice and a priority in compilation of the sea's legal regime," said Safari.

He said Tehran has drawn up a plan based on international regulations and in line with the sea's specifications and presented it to the littoral states. He added that the plan admits Iran a 20 percent share in the sea's wealth.

He added that trilateral agreement among Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan does not fall within framework of the five-way session and has not been reached in consensus with Iran and Turkmenistan, thus is not legally justifiable. The plan does not honor Iran's share of 20 percent in the sea's wealth, objected Safari.

Koulaie, for her part, said lack of a definite and clear-cut strategy has been the reason for Iran's failure to use international levers in the said case.

She called for adoption of serious measures to improve ties with other Caspian Sea littoral states, and giving the priority in policies to the Caspian Sea region, that is 'hub of our aspiration'.