Mehdi Safari made the remarks on Wednesday, saying that about $6.5 billion worth of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between Iran and Russia’s Gazprom Company has been turned into a contract and the rest valued at $40 billion, will become within the next month.
Referring to the opportunity of turning Iran into a regional gas hub, Safari added "Iran's scenario for gas trade with Russia is to buy gas from this country and then export our own gas to neighboring countries."
Elsewhere in his remarks, the deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy pointed to the swap gas deal with Russia and stated that Russia’s gas swap contract is at the stage of finalization.
With regard to the construction of the high-pressure pipeline, Safari said Iran is not handing over the pipeline to any country. But, he added that the Russians are going to invest in that project. Russian companies are supposed to build gas pipelines inside Pakistan so that gas can be exported from Iran to that country."
A joint venture contract will be set up between Iran and Russia for the construction of a gas pipeline to the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman's littoral states, with its shares go to the two countries about 50% each, and the Russian companies will develop special technology for the construction of a marine pipeline in this project, Safari added.
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