Majles Enters Caspian Affairs

The importance of Caspian Sea and the related problems such as formulation of a legal regime have compelled Allaedin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Diplomacy Committee of the parliament to introduce to the Foreign Ministry Mahdi Sanayee, a member of the committee, as parliament’s representative to watch over Caspian affairs. Mahdi Sanayee has served as head of the Center for Caucasian and Central Asian Studies and is an expert in Caspian affairs.

In an interview with Mahdi Sanayee, Iranian Diplomacy has discussed parliament’s plans for Caspian issues and the existing problems.

Addressing the importance of Caspian Sea for the government and the Iranian nation, Sanayee stated that Caspian Sea’s legal regime is extremely important for Iran. The Caspian region has historically been Iran’s sphere of influence and a part of its territory according to Sanayee. Security, energy resources, environmental problems and cooperation among littoral states are some of the issues focused on by Iranian officials. The Iranian national has also had its concerns with Caspian issues since long.

Sanayee added that during the recent years the Iranian diplomatic apparatus has paid extensive attention to Caspian affairs and naturally, the Iranian parliament has decided to enact its supervisory role in this field. He stressed that the legislative body will follow Iran’s interest in the Caspian region through collaboration with the diplomatic body.

When asked if his appointment as the caretaker for Caspian affairs is a part of parliament’s supervisory role Sanayee answered that this was both within the supervisory framework and an effort to cooperate with the diplomatic apparatus on issues related to Caspian Sea. He added that this appointment will pave the way for realizing parliament’s potentials to advance Iran’s interests in the Caspian and it will allow for information exchange on the Sea between the legislative body and ministry of foreign affairs.

On parliament’s plans for Caspian issues, head of the Center for Caucasian Studies stated that the flow of information from secretariat to Foreign Diplomacy committee will be facilitated, the government’s representative in Caspian affairs will be informed of committee’s viewpoints and the parliament’s suggestions and recommendations will be handed to the executive. Sanayee also added that the committee’s secretariat is developing a plan to provide the Foreign Diplomacy committee and members of the parliament with more information on Caspian affairs. He did not elaborate further on the parliament’s recommendations.