Bahrain said to court Iran on gas

TEHRAN, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Negotiations for imports of Iranian natural gas from the South Pars field to Bahrain are forthcoming, said the Bahraini oil and gas minister.

Abdul Hussein Mirza provided vague details to the Mehr News Agency in Iran that his country planned to restart gas talks.

"Negotiations with Tehran would resume soon," he told the news agency.

Mirza said in November that developing a pipeline from South Pars may take a few years, but the final details to import about 1 billion cubic feet per day from Iran were moving forward.

Talks were halted, however, in February over the fallout from Iranian claims that Bahrain was a province of Iran. Iranian officials later discredited the claims, describing the row as insignificant.

Both countries had discussed investments to develop the South Pars gas field, the world's largest gas field.

Bahrain is allied with the United States and its Western allies, hosting the U.S. 5th Fleet. Iranian media reports said Bahraini officials felt their energy needs outweighed diplomatic concerns.