Iranian FM due in Moscow today

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif plans to pay an official visit to Moscow on Monday. Zarif is scheduled to travel to the Russian Capital to attend the 5 Caspian Sea littoral states’ foreign ministers meeting now underway at Moscow's International Trade Center. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour is present at the meeting and Zarif is due to join him. The participating members will discuss regional affairs as well as multilateral and bilateral relations. The Iranian foreign minister will also meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during his stay in Moscow. Following the present ministerial meeting, the Caspian Sea littoral states’ leaders will convene in a meeting in the Russian port city of Astrakhan in September 2014. The Caspian Sea littoral states consist of Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. They have been debating their share in the Caspian Sea legal regime since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.