Tehran and Yerevan have agreed to establish a joint energy working group. According to the Iranian news agency MEHR, the agreement was reached following a meeting in Tehran between Iran's Minister of Oil Mohsen Paknejad and Armenia's Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure David Khudatyan.
Paknejad suggested that Khudatyan begin work as soon as possible so that specific results could be assessed at the next round of bilateral negotiations. During the meeting, the parties discussed a wide range of potential projects in the energy sector, including the expansion of bilateral trade, the export of technical and engineering services, the construction of oil refineries, and the supply of petroleum products to Armenia.
Noting that Armenia has supported Iran during difficult times, Paknejad confirmed Tehran's readiness to strengthen cooperation with its northwestern neighbor within the existing technical and economic capabilities. He stated that the current energy cooperation between the two countries is based on a scheme of exchanging Iranian gas for Armenian electricity. Additionally, the minister reported that Iran has proposed a new commercial model aimed at expanding natural gas exports.
