The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) welcomes the signing of an agreement on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project by Moscow and Ankara, the NIGC's spokesman Majid Boujarzadeh said Tuesday.

ISTANBUL (Sputnik) — On Monday, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the gas pipeline, which envisions the construction of two underwater legs in the Black Sea, with the annual capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each.

"We are glad that Turkey signed an agreement on the Turkish Stream with Russia, because Turkey needs a lot of energy.

It does not mater, who delivers gas, Russia or Iran, it is important to protect environment during such deliveries," Boujarzadeh told RIA Novosti.

He added that Iran also had good prospects for cooperation with Russia in the sphere of gas exports. The Turkish Stream project aimed at delivering Russia's natural gas to Turkey and parts of Europe was announced in late 2014 by Russian President Vladimir Putin on his state visit to Turkey. In November 2015, the project was suspended after a Russian Su-24 aircraft was downed by a Turkish F-16 fighter in Syria. In June, following Turkey's apology to Russia for the November incident, the sides began a reconciliation process. According to the agreement, Russia's energy giant Gazprom will own rights for both underwater legs of the pipeline, while the land stretch of the first leg will be owned by the Turkish customers and the land stretch of the second leg will be controlled by a joint venture.

By Sputnik