Iran and Turkey on Tuesday reviewed ways of removing a "technical snag" in the implementation of a project to export Iranian gas to Ankara, which was scheduled for inauguration last week, reported the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.
The meeting was held between Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Zeki Cakan and Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Mohammad Hossein Lavasani.
Following the meeting, Lavasani told IRNA that the two sides stressed the need to take a principled decision to begin the gas exports.
“Both Iran and Turkey realize that a crucial project of this kind will promote close and amicable relations between the two countries and should therefore not be affected by minor issues," he said.
"To show its goodwill and sincerity to implement and complete the project, the Iranian side is ready to test the (gas) meter once again," the Iranian envoy added.
The flow of the gas, via a conduit from the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz to the Turkish capital Ankara, was supposed to start on Monday under a 1996 deal.
Turkey was originally supposed to start importing the gas in 1999, but failed to finish its part of the pipeline in time.
In January 2000 the two sides agreed on a postponement, citing July 30 as the new inauguration date and extending the contract term from 22 to 25 years.
Under the deal, Iran would initially supply three billion cubic meters (105 billion cubic feet) of gas a year and increase it gradually to 10 billion cubic meters in 2007 – Albawaba.com
