Iran against Trans Caspian gas pipeline

Iran's Foreign Ministry has made an official statement against laying a gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea bed. Iran highlighted its position by putting forward the legal status of Caspian Sea and the question of ecology, insisting that any major decisions should be made only after a joint agreement with the consensus of all five Caspian countries. It downplayed the attempt of other countries in particular of the USA to participate in any kind of decision making in this direction.