Iran, Turkmenistan sign 2 cooperation agreements, 3 MoUs
Iran and Turkmenistan have signed two cooperation agreements and three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to expand their economic and energy cooperation.
The documents were signed on Tuesday in Tehran after a meeting between Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi and Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
Senior officials from Iran and Turkmenistan put their signatures to the documents which outline cooperation between the two countries on areas like international corridors and cargo transit, energy, agrifood exports, electricity, education and investment, among other things.
Turkmenistan and Iran are two major natural gas producers in the world and have been trading gas for swap delivery purposes for years.
Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said earlier on Tuesday that a contract for imports of 10 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas from Turkmenistan to Iran will be signed between the two neighbors very soon and imports will begin in the calendar month to June 21.
He said Iran has a capacity to import 40-50 million mcm of gas per day to either use domestically or to deliver the equivalent of that amount from its own gas to customers on other borders of the country.
Under a current swap agreement, Iran imports 5-6 mcm per day of gas from Turkmenistan to supply to domestic customers in its northeastern regions while delivering the same amount to Azerbaijan.
Raeisi said after meeting Berdimuhamedow on Tuesday that Iran and Turkmenistan are closer than neighbors because of their historical roots and should seek to expand their bilateral relations.
He said the two countries had agreed to increase the hours and capacity of customs services at their borders to help boost cargo transit from Iran to countries in Central Asia and vice versa.
The Iranian president said Iran will increase its supply of technical and engineering services and agricultural products to Turkmenistan based on MoUs signed on Tuesday.
ME
