Iran, Armenia Agree to Expand Long-term Energy Cooperation

TEHRAN (Tehran Times) – During a meeting between an Iranian delegation headed by Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister and an Armenian delegation led by Hakob Vartanian, Armenia’s deputy minister for local government and infrastructures, the two sides reached an agreement on the expansion of long-term energy cooperation.

After the meeting, Zamaninia, who is Iran’s deputy oil minister for the international affairs, said the talks about some technical issues of gas export and gas-for-electricity barter were postponed to the near future, after which a long-term contract will be signed.

Vartanian, for his part, said, “We have been negotiating with Iran for a year and a half about gas export and the extension of the gas-for-electricity deal; today’s meeting was one of the most constructive negotiations in this regard.”

Emphasizing that in the meeting the basic points were agreed, and the solution of some small and technical points were postponed to the near future, he said: “The two delegations in this meeting tried to take into account the mutual interests of the two countries.”

Iran and Armenia signed a gas-for-electricity barter deal in 2004, based on which, for a 20-year period, Iran would export gas to Armenia to be consumed by the country’s power plants, and in return, Iran imports electricity from Armenia.

Armenia started importing gas from Iran since mid-2009.

Iran and Armenia have been cooperating for years in gas and electricity swap, and two-way economic and political ties have grown in tandem with an increase in trade.