TEHRAN- Hamid Bovard, caretaker of the Ministry of Oil, on Monday, while announcing the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the 28th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, held bilateral and multilateral consultations aimed at strengthening Iran’s cooperation with other energy-reserve-holding countries.

According to an IRNA report on Monday evening, Hamid Bovard in Moscow continued the thread of contact and trilateral interactions among Iran, Russia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which had previously been pursued at the level of the heads of state of these countries in Turkmenistan.

Accordingly, the caretaker of the Ministry of Oil and the energy ministers of Russia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, in a trilateral meeting, discussed strengthening cooperation in the energy sector and effective presence in gas markets.

Bovard, Sergei Tsivilev, Russia’s Minister of Energy, and Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy, exchanged views on ways to develop trilateral cooperation among Tehran, Moscow, and Baku.

In this trilateral meeting, the caretaker of the Ministry of Oil said: “A general agreement for gas exchange between Iran and Russia via the Republic of Azerbaijan has been reached, and the technical stages of implementing this agreement are now being pursued and are on the path to finalization.”

Bovard added: “We hope that with the conclusion of the gas transfer program through the pipeline pursued by the Russian side via the Republic of Azerbaijan, the possibility of gas exchange between Iran and Russia will be provided in the near future.”

In a bilateral meeting with Russia’s Minister of Energy, the caretaker of the Ministry of Oil expressed satisfaction with the process of developing bilateral cooperation and said: “The agreement among Tehran, Moscow, and Baku to finalize the gas trade contract between Iran and Russia will be promising news, and efforts to finalize this contract have accelerated.”

In this meeting, attracting investment by Russian companies for the development of Iran’s oil and gas fields was reviewed.

The two sides also examined the existing obstacles to the implementation of understandings reached at the 19th Meeting of the Iran–Russia Joint Economic Cooperation Committee and exchanged views on solutions to remove these obstacles.

Russia’s Minister of Energy also said that the next meeting of the two countries’ Joint Economic Cooperation Committee will be hosted by Russia.

The Iran–Russia Joint Economic Cooperation Committee is one of the main mechanisms for pursuing and developing cooperation between the two countries in various economic fields, and a significant part of issues related to energy, investment, trade, and the implementation of joint projects between the two countries is pursued within the framework of this commission.

The 19th Iran–Russia Joint Economic Cooperation Committee was held in Tehran in Bahman 1404, and a wide range of issues was reviewed, including the completion of the International North–South Transport Corridor, gas transfer from Russia to Iran, and the development of cooperation in the fields of space industries, nuclear energy, commercial and economic affairs, finance and banking, customs, industry and mining, agriculture, health, culture and tourism, and science and technology.

EF/MA