TEHRAN, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Iranian natural gas deliveries to Turkey are expected to resume in about a week following an explosion near the countries' border, Iranian media reported.
An explosion on a pipeline in eastern Turkey this week forced Iran to suspend natural gas shipments. The semiofficial Fars News Agency reported that supplies should resume in about a week.
Iran offered to assistance Turkish pipeline company BOTAS with necessary repairs, said Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji.
No group claimed responsibility for either attack. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, a militant separatist group known by its Kurdish initials PKK, has targeted transnational pipelines in the past.
Tehran last week blamed U.S. and European sanctions on its energy sector for a collapse of its currency, the rial. The currency devaluation comes as crude oil prices slide in part because of global economic concerns.
Former Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir Kazemi was quoted by Fars as saying market prices were "not favorable for oil."
Bloomberg News reports oil prices are down 7 percent for the year.
