TEHRAN, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Officials from Iran and Russia entered into preliminary talks to negotiate the terms of a gas swap deal, the Iranian oil minister said.
Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said both sides entered into talks Friday. The deal includes agreements whereby Iran would receive natural gas from Russia from the north of Iran while exporting the same volume through the Persian Gulf, the Tehran Times reported.
"In case of finalization, Iran will receive gas on the northern borders and deliver the same amount to (foreign) customers in the south," the oil minister said.
Iran courted several Central Asian and European markets for gas transits as the Islamic Republic struggles under economic sanctions from its controversial nuclear program.
Nozari said there are similar plans in the works to swap around 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas from suppliers in Central Asia through a planned 1,864-mile pipeline.
He added plans were under way with Turkish officials to negotiate the terms of gas transit, possibly for the Nabucco pipeline.
