TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Presidents from the
Caspian Sea littoral nations on Tuesday agreed that they would never allow any
outside country to use their soils as base to launch military actions against
the member states, apparently referring to a possible U.S. offensive against
Iran's nuclear facilities.
According to the declaration issued by the five countries at the end of the second Caspian Sea states summit, the leaders said they "stress under any circumstances they would not allow other countries to use their territory for aggression and military attack against one of the parties."
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Turkmenistan's President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R-L) pose for photographers while attending the Caspian Sea Littoral States summit in Tehran October 16, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The declaration also said "all the sides claim that
only the littoral states posses the absolute right to enjoy the Caspian sea and
its resources" after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said all the
outsiders should be kept away from the Caspian region.
The leaders, in their statement, supported Iran's
right as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to "research, produce and use
nuclear energy for peaceful aims without discrimination within the framework of
this treaty and the mechanisms of the UN nuclear watchdog."
The second summit of the five littoral states of the
Caspian Sea officially started and winded up the one-day gathering, aimed to
find a proper legal regime for the sea, with the attendance of presidents from
Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
But the five leaders failed to reach an agreement on
ways to divide the sea's vast energy resources.
Putin's visit was especially noticeable since there
were rumors and media reports of a possible assassination plot on him during his
visit, which is the first by a Kremlin chief since Josef Stalin visited the
country in 1943.
Russia's Interfax news agency, citing sources from
Kremlin's security services, earlier reported that a suicide bomber was planned
to kill Putin when he visits Iran, but Putin shrugged off the rumors during his
meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkelon Monday.
Putin's visit came amid growing tensions between
Tehran and Western countries over its disputed nuclear program. He is scheduled
to meet Ahmadinejad and Iran's Supreme Leader Seyyed AliKhamenei later in the
day to talk on the nuclear issue and Russia-helped Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iranian media have applauded for Putin's arrival,
saying it could be a balance power against great pressure from the U.S. and
other Western countries.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the
U.S. government expected Putin to "convey the concerns shared by all of us about
the failure of Iran to comply with the international community's requirements
concerning its nuclear program."
The United States accused Iran of developing atomic
bomb under civilian cover and is now pushing the UN Security Council to impose a
third sanction resolution against Tehran since last December, but Iranian
officials have repeatedly denied the accusations and said they just wanted to
generate electricity.
Russia has said it insisted peaceful dialogue was the
only way to deal with Tehran's defiance over the UN demand of halting the
uranium enrichment work, warning the West not to force Iran too much.
"The Iranian people and leadership are not scared of
threat, believe me," Putin has said in Germany.
