Caspian Lake Legal System and Delimitation of the Maritime Border

The Caspian littoral states, the largest lake globally, failed to reach a comprehensive legal agreement after nearly three decades. For this reason, we will deal with the current dimensions of this water area from a legal perspective and looking at the delimitation of the Iranian maritime border in the north of the country. The lack of precise demarcation of the Caspian Sea is the insistence of the coastal states on their political positions. Developing a legal system in the Caspian Sea requires de-escalating tensions between countries and resolving this issue. These governments must accept historical and geographical facts based on the principle of fairness and cooperation. To advance the border demarcation, given Iran's historical background and long coastline, use legal and technical experts to study the morphology and geology of the bedrock. The synergism created by the scientific debates of technical experts establishes the ground for political agreements and their formulation within the framework of a coherent and complete legal system. The research method is descriptive from the point of view of the purpose, and in terms of collection, it is a library and documents based on the study of documents, researches done, and analysis of facts. This article examines the existing positions on the legal system and its problems by offering solutions to overcome this issue, which leads to the precise delimitation of borders. The findings of the study indicate that Iran's policy on the Caspian Sea should emphasize the resolution of this issue through the International Court of Justice or Permanent Court of Arbitration‎ based on the rule of 20% of the lake bed and subsoil, the right to sail throughout the lake, and oppose the military even by coastal countries, including the establishment of naval bases.