MOSCOW, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Iran joined Russian officials in expressing frustration with an EU decision to approach former Soviet Union countries about their natural gas.
The European Union this week agreed to negotiate deals with gas-rich Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan aimed at backing a series of pipeline networks in the so-called Southern Corridor, which includes the Nabucco pipeline.
Europe aims to break Russia's grip on the energy sector by courting rival suppliers who would feed natural gas through the new pipeline network.
Tehran, in a statement issued through its embassy in Moscow, said it shared the Kremlin's concerns about European initiatives with Caspian states.
"The two countries oppose this decision, which runs against ecological interests and the authority of each of the five states in solving issues concerning the Caspian Sea," Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti quoted the embassy as saying.
Moscow said it regretted Europe's move to broker agreements with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, two former Soviet states.
"Outside attempts to meddle in the affairs of the Caspian (Sea) … could very seriously complicate the situation in this region and hamper the ongoing five-party negotiations on the Caspian Sea's legal status," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.
