Kura (Caspian Sea) emptying into the Caspian Sea at Neftçala. Most of the Kura River runs in the broad and deep valley between the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus mountains, and the major tributary, the Aras, drains most of the southern Caucasus and the mountain ranges of the extreme northern Middle East. The entirety of Armenia and most of Azerbaijan are drained by the Kura River, but the Kura does not pass through Armenia at all. Also in the Kura watershed are Turkey, Georgia, and a bit of northern Iran. Most of the elevation change in the river occurs within the first .
Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was adopted in Aktau, Kazakhstan on August 12, 2011. The Protocol for the Protection of the Caspian Sea against Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities was signed in Moscow, Russian Federation, on December 12, 2012 at the 4th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention. Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea is a regional convention signed by the official representatives of the five littoral Caspian states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in Tehran (Iran)