On August 12, a conference dedicated to International Caspian Sea Day opened in the “Awaza” National Tourist Zone. The event is attended by Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan; Ovezgeldi Goshjanov, Minister of Environmental Protection; Myrat Atajanov, Director of the Caspian Sea Institute and Special Representative of Turkmenistan for Caspian Sea Affairs; as well as ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations.

Ali Mojtaba Roozbehani, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Turkmenistan, delivered a speech at the conference. He congratulated the participants on the occasion and recalled that, exactly twenty years ago, the five Caspian littoral states concluded an agreement on the protection of the Caspian Sea environment, aimed at preserving it for future generations.

The ambassador noted that over the past two decades, the littoral states have advanced their cooperation not only in the environmental sphere but also regarding security, the legal status of the sea, fisheries, maritime transport, and economic interaction, as well as in combating organized crime and terrorism. At the same time, he noted that a number of issues remain the subject of negotiations—specifically, the establishment of a secretariat for the Tehran Convention and the determination of straight baselines in the Caspian Sea. Consultations are also continuing regarding the fight against drug trafficking and poaching, scientific cooperation, the exchange of environmental data, and the strengthening of military confidence-building measures.

Roozbehani announced that Iran is prepared to host the seventh Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention in Tehran on September 23, 2026, and that preparatory work is underway in cooperation with the convention's interim secretariat in Geneva and other participating countries.

Particular attention in the speech was paid to the issue of the declining water level of the Caspian Sea, a trend that, according to the ambassador, has been observed over the past decade. He affirmed Iran’s support for joint initiatives by the Caspian littoral states to address this phenomenon, including the establishment of a system for the rapid exchange of data among the countries. In this regard, the diplomat highly commended the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, to hold a special summit on Caspian Sea environmental issues.

Speaking about regional security, the ambassador emphasized that it is indivisible in nature and affects the interests of all Caspian littoral states. He reported that recent events had seen attacks on Iranian coastal cities and ports on the Caspian Sea, as well as on an Iranian merchant vessel off the Russian coast, and called on the Caspian littoral states to adopt a unified stance to prevent such incidents in the future.

In concluding his remarks, the Ambassador thanked the Turkmen side—the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Caspian Sea Institute—for organizing the conference and for their hospitality.