Iran eyeing purchasing gas from Russia, sell its own to other countries

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari has said that Iran’s plan for gas trade with Russia is to buy gas from the country to use in Iran and then export its own gas to neighbouring countries.

Safari referred to the opportunity to turn Iran into a gas hub in the region, according to Iran Press.

The diplomat said that about $6.5 billion from the Memorandum of Understanding with Russia's Gazprom has been converted into a contract. God willing, the rest of the memorandums worth $40 billion will be converted into contracts next month.

Safari noted that the Russian gas swap agreement is also being finalized.

"Regarding the construction of the high-pressure pipeline, Iran will not hand over the pipeline to any country, the Russians are supposed to invest in this project. Russian companies are supposed to build gas transmission pipelines inside the territory of Pakistan so that the country's gas can be exported to Pakistan through Iran," he noted.

"Iran and Russia will soon establish a joint company to establish a gas pipeline to the Persian Gulf countries and the Oman Sea, in which the share of the two countries is 50 percent," the diplomat added.