Javad Owji said on Sunday evening after signing of a three-way gas contract: “Negotiations with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on gas trade began about two months ago, which led to the signing of an annual swap agreement of 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through Iran’s Astara border.”

Noting that gas flow from Turkmenistan to Iran had been suspended since December 2016, he said: “The Iran-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan three-way gas agreement will be operational as of the beginning of winter.”

The Minister of Petroleum stated that Iran's share of gas trade in the region is less than 2%, and said: "This contract will help provide winter fuel to the provinces of Khorasan Razavi, North and South, Golestan and Semnan."

The three-way gas swap agreement from Turkmenistan to the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran was signed on Sunday in the presence of the Presidents of the Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan.