ALMATY - Iran and Kazakhstan have agreed to continue their consultations to help formulate the legal regime of the Caspian Sea, the Kazakh Foreign Minister, Kasymzhomart Tokayev, said here on Saturday. Speaking on the sideline of the Foreign Ministerial Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Tokayev said that the agreement was reached in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi. Stating that Iran and Kazakhstan have quite differing views on the Caspian issue, Tokayev added that future consultations with Iran aims at finding common points between the two countries to determine the legal regime of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan favors division of the Caspian seabed amongst the littoral states, said the Kazakh official, adding that the Russian Federation and Kazakhastan would sign an agreement based on the said formula during the Kazakhstan visit of the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, this summer.

The ECO Foreign Minstrial Meeting opened here on Saturday. Summit of the ECO heads of state is to start here on Monday. (IRNA)