ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Ankara said during a bilateral economic summit with Tehran that it is ready to establish energy links through respective port cities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss bilateral trade and energy issues.
Iran is keen to expand its client base in the energy sector in the face of Western economic sanctions imposed for Tehran's controversial nuclear program. Turkey, meanwhile, is positioning itself as a major transit nation, hosting a variety of oil and gas pipelines.
Erdogan said an annual joint economic summit was an important show of friendship between the two neighbors, adding Turkey is "ready to ink the required agreements on energy cooperation and linking Trabzon port to Bandar Abbas," Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.
He noted the level of trade between Turkey and Iran passed $10 billion for 2009.
"There is a strong will on both sides to increase the amount to $30 billion," he added.
Tehran on Wednesday announced that it planned massive investments to rebuild and revamp its oil and gas infrastructure as part of a national five-year plan.
