A Review of the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea According to Records and Treaties

After the discovery of oil in the Caspian Sea, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of the Newly Independent States around the Caspian Sea, these states requested the division of their respective sectors in order to independently extract oil from seabed and sub­seabed sources. After the appearance of the three new countries around the Caspian Sea, as a strategic economic area and one of the most important trade areas of the world, the legal status of this Sea has caused regional disputes and competition and this area has become the focus of regional and over-regional nations. Each Country around the Caspian Sea has its specific viewpoint about the sea’s legal system. But at the moment, according to international law, the legal status of the Caspian Sea is based on the 1921 and 1940 treaties between Iran and the USSR.