Iran to Resume Gas Export to Turkey

Iran's natural gas flow to Turkey would be resumed within the next seven days after it was halted because of an explosion on 25 August 2010, an official with the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said. Valiollah Dini said that, "Based on an announcement by the (Turkish pipeline operator) Botas, gas exports to Turkey would be resumed within the next seven days."

The overnight blast, allegedly carried out by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), forced Turkish authorities to shut down the conduit in the country's eastern city of Agri, which borders Iran. The repair work is ongoing on the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline, Dini added. Last month, a similar blast occurred in another section of the pipeline close to the eastern Turkish town of Dogubayazit, near Iran's border. When the explosion on 21 July 2010 halted gas flows, it took 10 days to fix the pipeline. - Zawya