Tehran, Iran, June 9
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz will hold talks on June 9 in the Turkish capital Ankara.
The meeting will be held at the sidelines of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Turkey, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on June 9.
Turkey's complaint against Iran in regards to high price of gas will be discussed at the meeting. Turkey laid a formal complaint against Iran in March 2012.
If the court rules in favor of Turkey, Iran will be obliged to provide Turkey with a 30 percent discount on gas purchases.
Iran is currently charging Turkey $490 for every 1,000 cubic meters of gas. It is while Ankara says it has to pay only $335 and $425 to Azerbaijan and Russia, respectively, to import the same amount of gas.
In 1996, the Tehran and Ankara signed an agreement, according to which Iran would supply 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Turkey. Under the agreement, Iran should export about 27.3 million cubic meters of gas per day to its northwestern neighbor.
In October 2013, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that Turkey is importing 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Iran, but would buy more if it were available.
Iranian president arrived in Ankara on Monday morning. He has already held a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Rouhani is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul later today.
Security concerns and trade opportunities, especially in the energy sector, are at the heart of Tehran-Ankara talks.
Ministers from both countries are also expected to hold a joint meeting during the visit.
Tehran and Ankara are planning to boost their annual trade transactions to $30 billion by 2015.