Minister Sees Iran as "Likely Winner" of Gas Price Row with Turkey

Speaking on the sidelines of his Tuesday talks with Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, the Iranian minister referred to Ankara’s decision to sue Iran in the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague over the price of natural gas, and said Tehran will most probably come out victorious in the case.

He added that the complaint is not going to cause any problems for Iran.

Ankara claims that it pays $490 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas imported from Iran, while it pays $335 for gas purchased from Azerbaijan and $425 from Russia, according to the daily Today’s Zaman.

The paper said Turkey has tried to raise the gas price issue on previous occasions but was not able to arrive at a solution.

Asked whether Iran is likely to reduce the price of natural gas exports to Turkey, Namdar Zanganeh only responded that negotiations are underway in this regard.

On Sunday, he had said that Tehran would officially announce its final proposal about the price of gas exports to Turkey after conducting expert studies.

Last month, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Turkey may double natural gas imports from Iran if the two countries can agree on a price

Iran owns the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia.

Iran’s natural gas is of crucial importance to Turkey as the energy-hungry country uses a significant portion of imported Iranian gas to generate electricity.

Natural gas purchase from Iran was a key topic in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to Iran.

Erdogan paid an official visit to Iran earlier this year and held talks with Iranian officials on the enhancement of trade and energy ties with the Islamic Republic.

During his two-day visit, the Turkish premier called for closer economic relations between Tehran and Ankara, stressing that his country is in need of Iran’s energy resources, including natural gas.