Iranian oil minister, in Moscow, seeks to bolster ties with Russia

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said during a visit to Moscow today that Tehran would boost cooperation with Russia in agriculture and banking and remove barriers in all spheres of cooperation between the two countries, Reuters reports.

Russia has deepened ties with Iran since the start of the military conflict in Ukraine and signed a strategic partnership treaty with Tehran in January. Both countries are under Western sanctions.

Speaking on state TV earlier today, Paknejad said Iran will sign a $4 billion agreement with Russian companies to develop seven Iranian oil fields.

Russia has a long history of cooperation with Iran and helped build a nuclear reactor at Bushehr in the south of the country, Iran’s first.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in January in the Kremlin, said Russia may eventually supply up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year to Iran, though starting from lower volumes of up to 2 bcm.

A figure of 55 bcm would be similar to the throughput of the Nord Stream 1 undersea pipelines to Europe that were damaged by blasts in 2022 and have not delivered any gas since then.

Russian gas giant Gazprom GAZP.MM signed a memorandum last June with the National Iranian Gas Company to supply Russian pipeline gas to Iran. Possible routes for the pipeline have not been disclosed.

Paknejad, speaking at a Russia-Iran intergovernmental commission in Moscow, said Iran would implement the agreements with Gazprom, including on a regional hub for distribution of gas. The two countries have long discussed setting up such a hub in Iran, with the possible participation of Qatar and Turkmenistan.

READ: Iran, France signal readiness for nuclear talks amid US negotiations