Iran is building a series of regional alliances. against In this stride a conference of foreign ministers from the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea ended recently in Tehran. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1992, the Caspian, the world’s largest body of inland water, has become strategically important. The sea and its littoral are believed to contain some 12 percent of the world’s oil reserves plus huge reserves of natural gas. The Caspian has become a coveted prize in the intense, three-cornered race for influence pitting Russia, the Western powers, and China against one another. In this backdrop the comment of Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, becomes meaningful when reminded everyone that his country was the only one of the five littoral states to have the military wherewithal to defend it against “the greed and ambitions of hostile outsiders.” Iran tried that the conference should set a date for summit of the littoral states and debate on the legal status of the Caspian. The conference took note of the Iranian proposals but decided to postpone debating them at an unspecified date.
IRAN IN CASPIAN MEET
Iran is building a series of regional alliances. against In this stride a conference of foreign ministers from the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea ended recently in Tehran. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1992, the Caspian, the world’s largest body of inland water, has become strategically important.
