Iran Urges Resumption of Gas Exports to Turkey
IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK
TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called for efforts to restart the export of natural gas to Turkey after carrying out necessary repairs to the pipeline transferring gas to the neighboring country.
In a meeting with his Turkish counterpart on Monday, Foreign Minister Zarif stressed the need to resume gas exports to Turkey and repair and reconstruct a section of the gas pipeline that has been damaged.
Natural gas exports from Iran to Turkey came to a halt in April after an explosion and fire at a pipeline on the Turkish side of the border.
The top Iranian diplomat, who is leading a delegation to Turkey, further expressed solidarity with and support for Turkey in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences in the meeting.
Foreign Minister Zarif and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu also weighed plans to make up for a decline in trade exchanges between Tehran and Ankara over the past four months due to restricting regulations in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
In two rounds of negotiations, the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers agreed on holding a virtual meeting of the Astana Process Summit in the coming weeks before an actual summit in Tehran at the first possible moment, and also discussed the issues relating to Syria, Yemen, Libya, and the fight against terrorism.
Zarif expressed solidarity with Turkey in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that Iranian and Turkish medical teams will stand together in fighting coronavirus.
Commenting on the war in Yemen, he said Turkey is after a peaceful solution for Yemen.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Iran’s top diplomat referred to a virtual meeting on Syria, saying the event will be held aiming to materialize peace in Syria and in the framework of Astana agreement.
Cavusoglu, for his part, said stability in Iran is very important for Turkey. “The global pandemic in the world has taught Turkey and Iran to cooperate and trust each other more,” the Turkish foreign minister added.
He also stressed that Turkey, as before, intends to cooperate with Iran in all spheres, including the settlement of conflicts in the Middle East.
According to reports, Tehran-Istanbul direct flights, halted under the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, are to be resumed as of July 21.
The flights will be carried out by an Iranian and a Turkish airline, the reports say.
Flights between Iran and Turkey were temporarily suspended as of nearly three months ago from the closure of borders.
