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Turkmenistan, Iran agree to strengthen energy cooperation, interparliamentary ties

Iran is a long-term buyer of Turkmen electricity and natural gas

ASHGABAT, September 6 (Itar-Tass) - Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on Friday met with visiting Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani and Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh to discuss the current state of and prospects for further development of bilateral cooperation, the press service of the Turkmen government reports.

According to the press service, Berdymukhamedov and Namdar-Zanganeh spoke in favor of “closer energy partnership” as a “most demonstrative indicator of a comprehensive interstate dialogue.”

Iran is a long-term buyer of Turkmen electricity and natural gas. Gas is exported via three pipelines with a total capacity of more than 20 billion cubic metres a year.

Along with energy-related subjects, the sides exchanged views on plans to create a U.N. expert group to work out an international mechanism of stable global energy supplies. The initiative to this effect came from the Turkmen president.

“Problems of guaranteed access to energy sources and means of their deliveries have gained a global scale,” Berdymukhamedov noted. “That is why it is necessary to convey this problem to the United Nations level in order to work out common principles regulating relations between producer, transit and consumer countries.”

Another subject discussed at the meeting was the role of lawmakers in building trust between countries. Berdymukhamedob and Larijani spoke in favour of closer ties between parliaments, the press service noted.

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