June 17, 2016
The five countries that border on the Caspian Sea met last week for the 45th time to discuss how to divvy up the sea and regulate the exploitation of its resources. As with the previous 44 meetings, the negotiators reported no progress. The countries have been meeting since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Islamic Republic is almost universally proclaimed to be the source of the delay, as it will not accept the dividing lines proposed by the other four states.