Legal complications in the Caspian Sea

Abstract

After the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Caspian states have been negotiating to achieve a common resolution of the territorial delimitation dispute regarding the Caspian Sea. The only progress in the resolution of this dispute belongs to the series of bilateral agreements between the littoral states and the Framework Convention on Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, 2003 signed by all Caspian littoral states. Both Iran and the Russian Federation still recognise the valid status of the Treaty of Friendship between the Socialist Federate Republic of Russia and Persia on 26 February 1921 and the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Iran on 25 March 1940 with supplements. According to these treaties, the Caspian Sea is under the regime of condominium among the littoral states. The question at issue is the size of the zones or sectors which could be obtained by the littoral states and their sovereign rights over the territory. Although no common agreement declaring the sovereign rights of the littoral states over the territory of the Caspian Sea and resources in it was concluded, development of Caspian hydrocarbon resources has already started.