TEHRAN – A top Iranian Foreign Ministry official met Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Ashgabat on Tuesday and discussed the Caspian Sea legal regime as well as shipping and environmental issues in the sea with him.

Mahdi Safari, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and special representative to the Caspian Sea affairs, and Berdymukhammedov also insisted that relation between the two neighbors is strategic.
The two sides also discussed economic cooperation within the Caspian Sea economic cooperation committee and security issues.
During the meeting Berdymukhammedov invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan.
Safari also held separate talks with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Turkmenistan’s representative to the Caspian Sea affairs.