On August 28, the chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) of Turkmenistan, the country’s former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, visited Iran and held talks with the Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s Press TV news agency quoted Pezeshkian as describing four memorandums of understanding signed during Berdimuhamedov’s visit as “strategic,” saying that a document signed between Iran’s state gas companies and Turkmenistan will turn Iran into a regional gas transfer hub.
No details of the document have been released.
Turkmen media reported that Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proposed implementing joint projects with Iranian companies to increase the volume of gas supply to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters per year.
The Turkmen side also reported that the talks in Tehran discussed exporting Turkmen electricity to Iran.
Concerning cooperation in the transport sector, Berdimuhamedov urged increasing cargo transportation along the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route, while the Iranian president proposed increasing cargo flows along the Armenia-Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan route.
Turkmenistan and Iran have agreed to start negotiations for a comprehensive deal on transportation issues. The talks, expected to kick off next month, will be part of an intergovernmental committee chaired by Iran’s transportation minister.
