Iran

On the eve of President Mohammad Khatami's visit to the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, Majlis deputies increased their pressure on foreign policy decision-makers to assert Iran's legitimate rights in the Caspian Sea.

Yesterday, Mousavi Khoeini MP said the Constitution does not permit changes in Iran's borders, except for minor ones taking its national interests into consideration. Even these must be approved by 80% of Majlis deputies. Khoeini added that the Iranian officials' dialogue with Russia has not been satisfactory. The Caspian Sea issue is very important and Iran should not pay the price for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Those determining foreign policy should not alter the important treaties of 1921 and 1940 signed by Iran and the Soviet Union. He called on Majlis deputies to make constitutional notification in this respect.

Jafar Golbaz MP, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission who accompanied the Foreign Minister to Moscow, presented his report of the trip to the Commission. It provoked deputies' dissatisfaction with Iran's foreign policy. Golbaz pointed out that the negotiations between Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and Russian President Putin did not conform with Iran's interests and that Moscow does not approve of Iran's position on the Caspian Sea Legal Regime.

Upon hearing the Golbaz report, members of the Commission selected three of its members who, together with two representatives from the Foreign Ministry, will form a committee responsible for following up Caspian Sea issues. Elahe Koolaee MP, a member of this committee, said that Iranian foreign policy has not been successful in this respect and the present situation is unacceptable. Koolaee stated that all aspects of the issue should be studied and Iran's foreign policy should be based on a proper analysis. She argued that under present circumstances the upcoming littoral states' summit cannot end in a way favorable to Iran's interests.

Kazem Jalali, a Majlis deputy representing Shahroud, said that Iran declared that it owns a 20% share of the sea but the situation does not seem hopeful. At the upcoming summit in Ashkabad they have decided to prepare the Caspian Sea Legal Regime on the basis of joint ownership of the Caspian Sea resources. He said that the other littoral states could not decide the issue without taking Iran's views into consideration and that Iran should have insisted on its 50% share in the beginning so as to secure a 20% share of the resources. The 1921 and 1940 treaties are based on joint ownership, which secures a 50% share for Iran and Iran paid a high price for the conclusion of these treaties. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, four littoral states emerged which are trying to reduce Iran's share from 50% to 20%. Iranian officials must explain why they accepted a 20% share, which may be further reduced. He noted that the false Hussein Qoli Khan-Astara Line cited by others to determine the Iranian share has no historical basis. This line cuts Iran's share to 11.8 %. The Caspian Sea issue is a major strategic issue.

Note: Just what "high price" Iran paid for the 1921 and 1940 treaties with the Soviet Union is left unclear. The facts are that in 1921, shortly after its creation, the Soviet Union had no friends and was reeling from a long war with Germany followed by a bloody civil war. Therefore, it agreed to an outrageously unfair division of rights in the Caspian Sea. In 1940, distracted by the absorption of their territorial gains after the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, Soviet leaders had no interest in angering Iran by pressing for a change in the 1921 division. Iran's Caspian Sea shore runs roughly from Hussein (Ghassan) Qoli in Turkmenistan to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. Its length is very much less than 20% of the total Caspian coastline and 11.8% is probably very near the mark. So Iran has a bad case for more than 12% of Caspian Sea minerals and would do well not to press it unless it is ready to risk ruining its relations with Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.