Iran's natural gas will be transferred to Europe via Turkey, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.
"Iran and Turkey have signed an agreement to transfer Iran's natural gas to Europe via Turkey," Fars quoted Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Seyyed Reza Kassaeizadeh as saying.
"Under the new agreement, Turkey can transfer up to 35 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Europe," the report said.
Kassaeizadeh also announced that Tehran is intending to deliver gas at the Bazargan border point in northwestern Iran, but added that the two parties had not yet agreed on the best transfer route.
Earlier in November, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said he anticipated Turkey to make an investment of 12 billion U.S. dollars in Iran on the basis of an agreement signed between the two countries in Tehran to construct a 1,800-kilometer gas pipeline from Assalouyeh, a gas field in southern Iran's Bushehr province, to the Turkish border, Xinhua reported, referring to IRNA.
Tehran and Ankara also signed a MOU on the basis of which the Turkmenistan's gas would be transferred via Iran to Turkey to be piped to Europe.
The recent energy and trade talks between Iran and Turkey officials have developed the hopes among the EU states that the two countries could likely be the safe alternatives for their Eastern European neighboring states of Russia and Ukraine in the rainy days of energy.
Iran accounts for 16 percent of the world's natural gas reserves. However, it is a net importer despite huge reserves.
Iran wants to turn into a major player in the gas market and proposes to develop a formal organization akin to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Europe and the United States have warned against such a gas exporting body, saying it could pose a danger to global energy security and create room for price manipulation.