Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr.28/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iran will earn $5 billion annually from exporting natural gas to Iraq, IRNA quoted Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi as saying.
Exports of natural gas will be started in two months, he added.
Iran Oil Ministry Spokesman Alireza Nikzad-Rahbar said in February that if the project is carried out according to schedule, construction of the gas pipeline between Iran and Iraq will be completed next summer.
He noted that the pipeline would be designed in such a way that it would be able to deliver gas to other Muslim countries like Jordan and Lebanon in the future.
The 56-inch pipeline will start from Assaluyeh, near South Pars gas field in southern Iran, and will continue into the neighboring Iraq to feed three Iraqi power plants running on gas.
The South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar, holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
Iran, which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is making efforts to up its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in South Pars gas field.