Iran Announces Upcoming Joint Naval Drill in Caspian Sea

Iran announced on Tuesday that it would soon conduct a joint naval exercise in the Caspian Sea with the other four littoral states, emphasizing that the sea is off-limits to outside powers.

“The Caspian Sea belongs only to its five coastal states - Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan - and they will resolve related issues themselves,” navy commander Shahram Irani said at a gathering of naval chiefs in St. Petersburg, The Caspian Post reports citing Iranian media.

Irani said the littoral states had developed “very good relations” in security, economic and environmental fields and had the capability to ensure stability without foreign involvement. “There is no place in the Caspian Sea for extra-regional powers,” he said.

He said a recent joint exercise in Iran’s Bandar Anzali and along the southern Caspian coast had strengthened cooperation, and that another drill would be held soon.