Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad met with Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan in Tehran, taking a new step in energy cooperation. Paknejad announced that the two countries have agreed to establish a joint energy working group.
The Iranian minister expressed satisfaction with Armenia's standing by Iran during difficult times and emphasized that Iran is ready to strengthen cooperation with its northwestern neighbor within the framework of technical and economic opportunities.
The meeting evaluated a broad spectrum of energy cooperation, ranging from expanding bilateral trade to the export of technical and engineering services, refinery construction, and the supply of petroleum products to Armenia. The parties decided to establish a joint specialized working group to address these issues.
Paknejad proposed that the group become operational as soon as possible and said concrete results would be assessed at the next bilateral meeting. The Iranian Oil Minister also added that the existing energy partnership is based on a gas-for-electricity swap, but Iran has proposed a new commercial framework aimed at expanding natural gas exports.