Challenges and Approaches to Delimitation of the Caspian Sea within the framework of “The Aktau Convention”

The treaty and contractual records related to the determination of the legal regime of the Caspian Sea show that the delimitation of the Territorial Sea, sea-bed and subsoil of the Caspian Sea was not specified in the 1921 and 1940 agreements between Iran and the former Soviet Union or even in “The 2018 Aktau Convention”. The delimitation of Base-lines and delimitation of the Caspian Sea has postponed to the conclusion of future agreements between the Coastal states. In the present study, The researcher aimed to review the legal documents and survey the joint agreement between the Caspian Coastal states and by analyzing international judicial procedures, suggest the optimal method for determining the Base-lines and delimitation of the Caspian Sea in other to gain the highest national interests and sovereign rights for I.R.Iran. Therefore, the present study with a qualitative approach and using a descriptive-analytical method, tries to identify legal loopholes in “The Aktau Convention” and what is the consequences of applying the -28 meter Kronshtat level, and also provide solutions to determine the Caspian Sea. The results of this study show that the use of mathematical and engineering methods (convex polygon) to delimit the Caspian Sea and by refer to the use of the "principle of fairness" in the process of determining the boundaries of the seabed and subsoil by using of Straight Baseline and considering the circumstances geological factors and the shape of the coasts, In total can increase Iran's share of the Caspian Sea as much as possible.