Ankara, Tehran to Discuss Discount on Iranian Gas During Erdogan Visit

Ankara and Tehran will discuss the possibility of a discount on Iranian natural gas sold to Turkey, during an official visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Tehran, Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said on Monday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Erdogan will visit Iran on April 7 at the official invitation of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues. The Turkish president will participate in the second meeting of the Turkish-Iranian High Level Cooperation Council.

"We hope that Iran will offer Turkey a more reasonable price for gas. This will be on the agenda of the Turkish president's visit to Tehran," Yildiz said at a press conference in Ankara.

He added that the international court in Stockholm in May will make a decision on the claim of Turkey to Iran regarding what Ankara sees as Tehran's inflated price for gas.

Iran, which has been selling gas to Turkey since 2001, is the second largest gas supplier to the country, after Russia, delivering 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The price of the Iranian gas is not officially disclosed. According to media reports, it is 490 dollars per thousand cubic meters, higher than the price of Russian and Azerbaijani gas.

In February, an international arbitration court began proceedings regarding Turkey’s claim, which asks for a price cut on Iranian gas of 25%.