BY Ebrahim Fallahi
TEHRAN – During the visit of a senior Turkmen politico-economic delegation to Tehran, senior officials from the two countries met to explore avenues of mutual cooperation in a variety of areas.
The Turkmen delegation, headed by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan, arrived in the Iranian capital on Tuesday.
As reported by the Iranian press, during his stay in Tehran Berdimuhamedow met and held talks with President Ebrahim Raisi, while his accompanying delegates also met with their Iranian counterparts to discuss ways of expanding ties, especially in the energy sector.
In the meeting with Berdimuhamedow, President Raisi said Iran and Turkmenistan have the potential capacity to expand cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, transit, customs, agriculture, science, and technology.
Stating that the relations between the two countries are based on deep cultural commonalities and beyond mere neighborliness, Raisi stated that the cooperation between Tehran and Ashgabat has enjoyed significant growth in the last two years, as the will of the Iranian government has been to strengthen relations with neighbors.
The two sides signed five cooperation documents late on Tuesday in the presence of President Raisi and Berdimuhamedow. The documents include cooperation in areas of electricity transfer, customs, and higher education.
Iran to import gas from Turkmenistan soon
After meeting with Batyr Amanov, the chairman of the Türkmengaz State Concern, Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Oji said that Iran will soon sign a contract with Turkmenistan to import natural gas from the neighboring country.
Around 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day is to be imported from Turkmenistan as per the contract, Oji told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting with Amanov on Tuesday.
The import of gas is scheduled to be started this month, the official said.
Turkmenistan pursuing establishment of joint border markets with Iran
Meanwhile, in a meeting with Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, Head of the Transport and Communications Agency of Turkmenistan Mammethan Chakyev said his country is seriously pursuing the establishment of markets at the border with Iran.
Expressing Turkmenistan's interest in strengthening cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran in various fields of transportation, he said: “Iran and Turkmenistan have a lot of transportation relations, and currently 400 wagons are passing through the Sarakhs border and 200 wagons are passing through the Incheh-Borun border daily.”
“It is possible to increase the capacity by three to four times the current capacity,” Chakyev said.
Emphasizing the activation of the Ashgabat agreement, Bazrpash for his part, announced that a comprehensive transportation document between Iran and Turkmenistan will be drafted and signed in the near future.
Bazrpash stressed the need for strengthening the relations between the two countries by pointing out that the two countries have a lot in common in transportation areas.
"Our approach in the government is to develop relations with all neighbors, including Turkmenistan," he added.
Iran-Turkmenistan electricity swap to increase to 1,000 MW
Also on Tuesday, Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian announced that the current 500 megawatts (MW) capacity of electricity swap between Iran and Turkmenistan will double after the inauguration of a new transmission line between the two nations.
Mehrabian made the remarks after a meeting with the Turkmen delegation.
According to the official, the two sides have agreed that the construction of a four-circuit transmission line between Merv and Sarakhs, which is 150 km long, will begin as soon as possible; The contractor for building this line is an Iranian company, and the equipment and facilities produced in Iran are used in this project.
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