¡¡¡¡TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Azeri President Heydar Aliyev left here for home on Monday after a three-day official visit to Iran.

¡¡¡¡Iranian President Mohammad Khatami held an official ceremony at the Sa'dabad Cultural Complex here to see Aliyev off.

¡¡¡¡During his Tehran tour, Aliyev met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Khatami, Majlis (parliament) Speaker Mehdi Karrubi and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on ways to bolster Tehran-Baku relations as well as the latest regional and international developments.

¡¡¡¡Speaking at a joint press conference Monday morning, both Khatami and Aliyev announced that the two sides reached wide understanding in seeking an acceptable legal regime for the CaspianSea.

¡¡¡¡The Caspian Sea is estimated to contain the world's third largest reserves of oil and gas after the Persian Gulf and Siberia.

¡¡¡¡Of the five littoral countries of the Caspian Sea, Iran and Turkmenistan have been pushing for an agreement to secure an equal sharing, or 20 percent,of the underwater wealth, a formula opposed by Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

¡¡¡¡The latter three favor a principle of carving up the sea into national sectors, corresponding roughly to the length of each country's shoreline, leading to a possibility that might leave Iranwith only a 13-percent share.

¡¡¡¡Iran and Azerbaijan, two predominantly Shia Muslim countries, have deep-rooted cultural, historical and ethnic bonds with over 20million Iranians speaking Azeri, the national language of Azerbaijan.

¡¡¡¡However, disputes between the two countries on the legal regime of the Caspian Sea has damaged the bilateral ties. Last July, an Iranian warship threatened to fire on an Azeri oil research ship ina sector of the Caspian Sea both countries claim as their own. Enditem

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