Turkey will continue to import natural gas from Iran despite tighter U.S. sanctions, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
“ We have always told officials that the issue is of strategic importance to us and we couldn’t comply with the sanctions ,” Erdogan told a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul, Iran’s SHANA news agency reported.
Turkey takes more than 90 percent of Iran’s gas exports.
Iran is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier of natural gas, I believe sanctions will not cover it, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told a news conference in Istanbul.
“ We know that sanctions of this kind would not only be against Iran but would also be against Turkey ,” he declared.
Iran and Turkey have signed a 25 years contract under which Iran delivers 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year to the neighboring country.
[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, December 9, 2012