Speaking on Sunday and on the sidelines of the trilateral gas swap agreement between Iran, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which took place during a visit to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Mr. Owji said: “Over the past month, we have had close talks with the Azerbaijani side and Turkmenistan on the transfer of gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, which is in fact a gas swap, which fortunately led to this three-way agreement today.”

He added: "In this agreement, we will receive about 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Turkmenistan in the Sarakhs region and deliver it from Astara to Azerbaijan. This agreement is in fact a good energy relationship.”

Regarding the settlement of Iran's debt to Turkmenistan regarding the gas contract, the Iranian Minister of Petroleum stated: "Fortunately, with the good solutions of the Ministry of Petroleum and the National Iranian Gas Company, the first installment of our debt settlement will be paid to Turkmenistan soon."