"After the talks and consultations, we signed a memorandum on cooperation between the Russian Caspian Scientific and Research Institute of the Fishing Industry, which is based in Astrakhan [a city in the delta of the Volga River], and the Iranian National Scientific Center," he said.
According to Mr. Kislyak, "the document was signed at the fourth Russian-Iranian session aimed at defining a plan of action for the forthcoming year within the framework of the 1996 intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fishing industry of the Caspian Sea." The parties also discussed cooperation in scientific research, joint reserve management, fishing control, as well as legal problems related to the work on a five-side agreement (Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan), Mr. Kislyak said.
"Yet another issue on the agenda was breeding sturgeons. Now Iran is carrying out programs that were developed together with Russian experts and Russian technologies," he added.
"We also discussed the problem of fighting against illegal fishing, and are now considering practical measures to work out a new five-side agreement between the Caspian littoral states," Mr. Kislyak pointed out.
"Discussing our bilateral relations, we definitely took into account other countries' interests," he emphasized.
