Tehran, IRNA – President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran is ready to boost cooperation with Turkmenistan in various fields, stressing that the Islamic Republic has always sought to expand relations with its neighbors and friendly countries.

According to The Iran Project, ood neighborliness in ties with neighbors is a principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said Pezeshkian as he hosted Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov on Wednesday.

The necessary orders have been issued to the relevant authorities to examine areas of further cooperation between the two countries, and remove obstacles in the way of accelerating the implementation of joint projects, the Iranian president underlined.

He also talked about an upcoming summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states, which will be hosted by Tehran.

“Iran seeks to expand relations between the Caspian Sea littoral countries based on peace, friendship, and good neighborliness, and this approach will be discussed at the upcoming summit with an emphasis on achieving practical solutions for developing cooperation”, Pezeshkian added.

The Turkmen Foreign Minister, for his part, conveyed the warm greetings of President Berdymukhamedov and referred to joint projects between the two sides in various fields, including transportation and energy.

Meredov expressed hope for holding joint commission meetings, which he said would lead to the development of economic relations between Iran and Turkmenistan. He also announced that Turkmenistan would send a high-level delegation to the summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states.

Turkmenistan to ship natural gas to Turkiye via Iran

Turkmenistan has inked a major deal to supply natural gas to Turkiye, which is expected to be transported via Iran's existing natural gas network.

The deal, which was signed between the state-run Turkmengas company and Turkiye’s state-owned BOTAS, will begin on March 1, marking a significant step in energy cooperation between the two nations.

Turkiye consumes more than 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year and has so far relied on a mix of gas supplies from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran.

Turkmenistan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian country, relies heavily on the export of its vast natural gas reserves.