Tehran, Iran, June 11
Trend:
Head of the Union of Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters said that joining the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is improbable due to Iran's direct link to Europe through 2 other corridors.
"We were interested in joining the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, and we also participated in the Shah Deniz project, which is a gas project, but the set of foreign policies of the country and the sensitivities that exist, will not allow us to use existing lines to reach the market in Europe,” Hamid Hosseini told Trend.
"We are turning into regional power and we have to negotiate in the region with Iraq, Syria and Lebanon," he added.
“In cooperation with these countries, we can connect Europe,” he said. “On the other hand, we reach the Iraqi, Syria, Lebanon market for gas exports through such corridor.”
He pointed to the second Iranian route for gas exports to Europe and said that given Turkey's relationship with Western Europe, Iran can connect to Europe via Turkey.
“We should either set up a new route through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, or connect to Europe in cooperation with Turkey," said Hosseini.