Posted on 09/15/2002 9:12:55 PM PDT by pkpjamestown
TEHRAN, Sept 15, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Iran has threatened Turkey with compensation claim for its suspending imports of Iranian gas on quality grounds, local press said on Sunday.
Turkey's Energy Minister Zeki Cakan announced last week that Ankara had halted imports of natural gas from Iran via a pipeline since June 24 on the ground of quality problems.
The Iranian side rejected the claim, saying it was only due to Turkey's lower economic growth in recent months. Iran is ready to dispatch international inspectors to test the gas quality.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Turkish authorities had "cited economic ailments" for the suspension and announced to resume Iranian gas imports "in the forthcoming two to three months", the report said.
"In our talks with Turkish officials, they have announced the bad shape of the economy as the reason for not delivering on their commitment to import the Iranian gas in line with the contract," Zanganeh said.
Zanganeh said Turkey was under a burden of enormous gas contracts with several countries and this had made Ankara fail to deliver on its energy commitments with Iran.
He said the amount of the damage claim depends on the volume of Iranian gas projected for export to Turkey until the end of 2002.
Iran and Turkey launched late last year a 2,577-km pipeline, running from the northwestern Iranian city Tabriz to Ankara, which supplies gas from fields in southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.
Under a 30-billion-US dollar deal, Iran would initially supply Turkey 3 billion cubic meters of gas a year and will increase it gradually to 10 billion cubic meters in 2007.
Iran has hailed Turkey as "a gateway for the export of Iranian natural gas to European markets."
What a waste!
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