Iran to launch gas exports to Iraq in near future – Oil Minister![]() March 10, 2013 - 16:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran will start exporting gas to Iraq within the next three months, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Sunday, March 10, according to RIA Novosti. Qasemi, who met with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi in Baghdad, said the agreement on Iranian gas supplies to Iraq had “reached the stage of final signing.” “The launch of gas exports will proceed by stages. First, gas will start to be supplied to Baghdad and then, within another three months, to Basra,” official news agency IRNA quoted Qasemi as saying. Iraq is expected to consume about 20-25 million cubic meters of Iranian gas per day. Iran, which has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is also close to signing an agreement on gas supplies to Syria via Iraq, Qasemi said. “The signing of this agreement will take place in Tehran with the participation of representatives from the three countries,” the Iranian oil minister said. Azerbaijani authorities report that they have already resettled 3,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Stepanakert. On June 10, Azerbaijani President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will leave for Turkey on a working visit. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. Partner news |