Head of Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati on Thursday conferred with Minister of Oil of Iraq Adil Abd al-Mahdi on gas pipeline deal, IRNA reported.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Velayati said that the Iraqi oil minister is in Iran to discuss oil price and OPEC developments with Iranian officials.
He said that the Iraqi oil minister was satisfied with the results of his talks with Iranian senior officials.
It has been decided that deputy for economic affairs of Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council, hold consultations about the gas pipeline deal with Iraq, he said.
Under the deal, the executive phase of the contract is to export 25 mcm of gas to Iraq, and the project has the capacity to increase the amount up to 40 mcm, Velayati added.
He added that the project will be completed within 2 years, saying "in order to meet the needs of the people and government of Iraq, a branch of the pipeline will reach Basra and another will deliver gas to Baghdad.'
Iran and Iraq finalized a plan for developing a pipeline to carry 40 mcm of gas to Iraq in September 2015. The project has been long in the offing but had been delayed over security concerns resulting from the war of insurgency that the ISIL terrorists have waged in Iraq.