The Special Working Group tasked with establishing the secretariat of the Tehran Convention on the Protection of the Caspian Sea Environment held a meeting in Geneva on December 18–19.
During the meeting, the participating parties exchanged documents related to the establishment of the Convention’s secretariat in the Caspian region, including agreements on its administrative and financial structure, as well as privileges and immunities, News.Az reports, citing Iranian media.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the five Caspian littoral states, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.
The Iranian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s special envoy for Caspian Sea affairs, along with representatives of the Department of Environment (DoE).
The temporary secretariat of the Tehran Convention, operating under the supervision of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is headquartered in Geneva. Establishing a permanent secretariat in one of the Caspian region countries is considered an important step toward protecting this unique body of water and strengthening regional cooperation.