A landlocked sea is exempt from international maritime law
By exploiting a legal loophole in the world's largest lake, cargo ships can move sensitive military technology across borders without ever entering a foreign navy's jurisdiction.
The Caspian Sea occupies a unique legal vacuum because five nations—Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan—cannot agree on whether it is a sea or a lake. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, international waters are open to foreign inspection and naval surveillance. However, because the Caspian is entirely landlocked, it is governed only by the private agreements of its neighbors. This creates a blind spot where vessels can move goods between the Russian port of Astrakhan and the Iranian port of Amirabad without any risk of being intercepted by international authorities.
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