TEHRAN (Etelaat Newspaper)–The Iranian mission to the United Nations objected to Azerbaijan’s unilateral exploitation of oil from the Chirag reservoir of the Caspian Sea.
In a letter submitted to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Tuesday–Iran’s representative said that Azerbaijan’s unilateral exploitation of the mineral resources in the seabed and the subsoil of the Caspian Sea was unacceptable–IRNA reported from New York. The letter said Azerbaijan’s decision to do so contravened a treaty of amity concluded between Iran and Russia on 16 February 1921–and Iran-USSR commerce and navigation agreement of March 25–1940 and the letters annexed thereto as well as the Ashkhabad declaration.
The letter also warned that the full responsibility for con-sequences of such illegal measures and actions–including damage caused to other coastal states–rests with the states violating the legal regime of the Caspian Sea–and reminded Iran’s right to action.