Caspian Sea states must be politically determined to save it, official says
Speaking in a conference with environment ministers and chiefs from five Caspian Sea states, Kalantari said that Iran has bitter experience in the Persian Gulf since the countries in that region lack enough political resolve to protect its environment.
He emphasized that Iran is hurt the most from Caspian Sea contaminations since it has been placed on the southern coast of the sea and the pollution produced by other states moves southward.
He hoped that an active secretariat would establish and a multilateral agreement would be reached in the sixth meeting of officials in Baku, Azerbaijan, as the problems of the sea couldn't be solved with bilateral agreements.
Urging his counterparts not to waste time, he recommended that a 10-year plan be approved in the Baku meeting regarding environmental issues of the Caspian Sea.
Environment ministries from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan who also participated in the conference emphasized the importance of The Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea known as the Tehran Convention adopted in 2003 among Caspian Sea states.
Kalantari and environment officials from other countries surrounding the sea asked for a secretariat of the Tehran Convention to be established as soon as possible to follow up the agreements reached to protect the sea.
Also present in the conference was the head of the European office of United Nations Environment Programme Bruno Pozzi mentioned the 20-year effort by the office to elevate coordination among stakeholders and introduce protocols and frameworks for protecting the Caspian Sea.
He urged the countries to make their effort to improve the Tehran Convention in order to have more achievements.