The Caspian Sea Convention: New Status but Old Divisions?

The new Caspian Sea Convention signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the 12th of August 2018 puts an end to almost three decades of legal uncertainty and complex negotiations that were by the question of the exploitation of the rich Caspian seabed. Although the significance of the Aktau Convention should not be understated, this article will show that rather than providing a new legal framework for the Caspian Sea, it validates the North Caspian Sea agreements previously signed between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia. As a result, these countries stand to benefit the most from this convention, as opposed to Iran, whose propositions do not appear in the final version of the instrument.