Announcing his opposition to any "unilateral and provocative" action in the Caspian, President Mohammad Khatami repeated that the treaty of 1921 and 1940 (between Iran and the now collapsed Soviet Union) is the "only legal basis" of any decision on the Caspian and any legal regime should be devised based on these treaties.

Speaking at a large gathering in Noshahr in the northern province of Mazandaran, he added that Iran calls for `prudent discussions to determine the Caspian Sea's legal regime keeping in mind justice for all littoral states'.

The agreement followed a last month summit held in the Turkmen capital Eshqabad where the heads of state of the five littoral countries discussed aspects of their differences and consensus on the sea and reiterated the need for further consultations in order to come to a common ground.

Mr. Khatami said while Iran is determined to safeguard its natural and just interests in the Caspian, it is striving to reach a consensus in drawing up a legal regime which gives all the littoral nations a just stake in using the Caspian's God-given resources'.

Last July, Iran and Azerbaijan reached the brink of war after Iran sent gunboats and warplane to the Caspian Sea to stop operations by British-owned research ships exploring in an area claimed also by neighbouring Iran.

Earlier in May, Khatami upon return from a five-nation tour of Central Asia, said the Caspian Summit held in Eshqabad indicated the coastal states' resolve to settle the existing differences over the legal status of the inland sea among themselves.

The two-days Summit ended without reaching any agreement on the legal status of the Caspian, reiterating only that further consultations be held between the five at experts and foreign affairs officials level in order to come to a common ground.

Mr. Khatami described the two-tier agreements of 1921 and 1940 between Iran and the former Soviet Union as a "suitable yardstick" to `finalise the Caspian legal regime and attend to new requirements'.

Mrs. Elaheh Koola’i, a member of the Majles Foreign Affairs and National Security Committee said the Moscow-Astana agreement would endanger the interests of Iran, since it amounts to a unilateral agreement to divide the sea's resources by the two states.

She said the recently concluded Eshqabad Summit, which was attended by heads of state of the five littoral states, produced no new agreement on sharing of the sea's resources. However, she said all participants in the summit committed themselves to adhere to the existing agreements dating back to the Soviet era until they can agree on a legal regime to govern disposition of the sea's resources.

The lawmaker, who is also an expert on Russian affairs, severely criticised the Iranian diplomacy concerning the Caspian Sea’s issues, saying that the relevant officials in the country are unaware, uncaring or ignorant about the implications and ramifications of what happened in Eshqabad. "In addition, the interpretation of Iranian officials concerning the outcome and impact of the summit is erroneous", she noted.

As the Foreign Affairs senior spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was also rejecting the accords reached between Russia and Kazakhstan, the English-language "Tehran Times" in an editorial on Wednesday termed as "unacceptable" the agreements.

The conservatives-controlled "Tehran Times" warned both Moscow and Astana to refrain from signing such accords as it will only create more differences among Caspian Sea littoral states and further delay the forging of a new legal regime aimed at complementing the old one.

The paper accused Russia and Kazakhstan for ignoring all international law regarding inland seas and the need for consensus over the Caspian Sea's new legal regime and termed as "invalid", all documents and agreements signed between Moscow and Astana since the past three years over exploitation of the Caspian's natural resources since they are of "bilateral" nature and thus violate the international law on lakes approved in Vienna in 1969 and 1978.

"Based on international law, consensus among the littoral states is the prerequisite for exploitation of the natural resources of any inland sea", the paper reiterated.