TEHRAN, May 11 (UPI) -- Iran could export its natural gas reserves to Europe using routes through the Middle East, an Iranian gas executive announced.
Reza Kassayeezadeh, head of the National Iranian Gas Export Co., said his country was considering a variety of options for gas exports.
"Recently, we have focused on other options for exporting gas to Europe, including a route through Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean (Sea)," he told the semiofficial Fars News Agency.
Iran, he said, is studying a variety of export routes, including a pipeline to Pakistan, the so-called Persian pipeline through Turkey to Syrian and the Nabucco pipeline to Europe.
His comments contradict statements from Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi, who told state-funded broadcaster Press TV last week that "we are not interested in following up on the Nabucco plan."
Turkey, said Kazemi, could act as a transit country for Iranian gas. Nabucco partners, however, will have to accept Iran's terms for gas supplies, he said with few specifics.
