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Official: Iran plans to export gas to Arab states

Oil&Gas Materials 22 October 2012 18:36 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.22/ Trend G.Mehdi/

Iran plans to export gas to two Arab states, ISNA quoted National Iranian Gas Company's managing director Javad Owji as saying. However, he did not explicitly name the two Arab countries.

Iran has the possibility to export gas to Syria, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf littoral states, Owji said.

Iranian gas has many customers, he said, adding that 30 million cubic meters of gas is exported to Pakistan and 25 million cubic meters of gas is exported to Iraq.

The new round of EU sanctions will not be effective and the only party that will suffer from these sanctions is the EU itself, the head of Iran's parliamentary budget committee, Gholamreza Mesbahi-‎Moqaddam said on Sunday.

"Turkey has declared its readiness to continue its gas imports from Iran and China, our other major buyer, is still willing to purchase oil," the Mehr News Agency quoted Mesbahi-Moqaddam as saying.

"EU has decided to put the sanctions on Iran, while some European countries still import Iranian gas. It shows that the only party that is going to suffer from these sanctions is the EU," he added.

It is while the Iranian Oil Ministry had previously said that the recent threat posed by the EU to ban gas imports from Iran is mere 'propaganda campaign' as Iran exports no gas to the European bloc.

"At present, Iran has no gas exports to the EU and the threat of sanctions [against Iran's gas] is mere propaganda campaign," Press TV quoted Alireza Nikzad Rahbar, a spokesman for the ministry on October 6.

He said that possible sanctions against Iran's gas would be mostly to the detriment of European countries as they would deprive themselves of Iran's vast gas reserves and thus would have to increase their reliance on other sources of energy.

"We consider the EU threat as mere propaganda campaign because the increase in EU's dependence on limited sources of gas will put at risk the energy security of this continent," he added.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman also said on Tuesday that tough new European Union sanctions on Iran will not force Tehran back into negotiations with world powers over its nuclear program.

"We think the error in calculation which these countries are pursuing will distance them from a favorable result," said Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

"We recommend that instead of taking the wrong approach and being stubborn and using pressure...with a logical approach they can return to discussions," he said.

The EU agreed further sanctions against Iran's banking, shipping, and industrial sectors on Monday, cranking up financial pressure on Tehran in the hope of drawing it into serious negotiations on its nuclear program.

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