TEHRAN – An Iranian delegation has participated in a meeting of the working group on establishing the secretariat of the Tehran Convention in the Caspian Sea region.

Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy foreign minister and the country's representative for Caspian Sea affairs, led the delegation.

The meeting was held from December 18 to 19, in Geneva, Switzerland, with representatives of the five littoral states, namely, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, in attendance, IRNA reported. 

During the meeting, the participants discussed a draft document on establishing the Tehran Convention Secretariat in the Caspian Sea region.

Currently, the Tehran Convention Secretariat is provided ad interim by UN Environment’s Europe Office, in Geneva. The Secretariat supports the Conference of the Parties and the implementation of the Tehran Convention in organizational, administrative, and technical matters.

In 2003, the Caspian Sea littoral states signed the (Tehran) Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

Following ratification by all five Governments of the Caspian littoral states, the Tehran Convention entered into force on August 12, 2006.

The objective of this Convention is the protection of the Caspian environment from all sources of pollution, including the protection, preservation, restoration, and sustainable and rational use of the biological resources of the Caspian Sea.

The Tehran Convention serves as an umbrella legal instrument that not only aims at protecting the Caspian environment from all sources of pollution but also targets the preservation, restoration, and protection of the Caspian Sea species and habitats.

Tehran ready to host COP 7 for marine environment protection

The Department of Environment (DOE) has announced readiness to hold the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, known as COP 7.

Known for its unique biodiversity, the Caspian Sea is home to different kinds of valuable species and plays a vital role in the economy, food security, and ecological sustainability of the region.

Over recent decades, marine life, particularly sturgeon and Caspian seals’ populations in the sea, have sharply declined due to threatening factors such as illegal fishing, overfishing, oil, industrial, and agricultural pollution, climate change, reduced water flow, as well as habitat destruction.

“Iran is willing to maintain and promote a collaborative relationship with the Tehran Convention, develop structures, as well as establish a permanent secretariat,” IRNA quoted DOE head Shina Ansari as saying.

She made the remarks in a meeting with Mahir Aliyev, the Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention), in Tehran.

The two officials also discussed arrangements and preparations for holding COP 7, the perspectives of the Caspian Sea littoral states on cooperation for advancing the goals of the Tehran Convention, as well as reducing pollution and harmful substances in the Caspian Sea.

COP 6 was held in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan, in October 2022.

MT/MG