Seyyed Mousa Mousavi a member of the energy committee of Iran’s parliament made the remarks in talks with Shana reporter, adding that during the 13th administration in office “we witnessed flourishing energy diplomacy approach which reached its climax when Iran and Russia signed the latest gas deal for gas transfer in June this year.”

This deal will turn Iran into a regional gas hub and will be the beginning of forming a new energy balance in the region, he told Shana.

Mousavi pointed to the deal as the most important gas trade deal in the West Asia region over a century which will change energy balance in this region.

In late June the Iranian National Gas Company (NIGC) and the Russian company Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on gas transfer from Russia to Iran in the presence of the Iranian acting president Mohammad Mokhber and the managing director of the Russian company Gazprom Alexi Miller.

In a televised program on June 26, Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said that the MoU could have a great impact on the regional energy market.

Owji said that Iran and Russia sit atop 60 percent of the world’s gas reserves, so signing this MoU is a great achievement with an impact on evolving energy equilibrium in the region. He further said that Iran with its widespread national gas pipeline network and the related infrastructures is fully prepared to take the gas.

The principal framework for gas transfer from Russia to Iran had been on the agenda since a long ago, the minister of petroleum said adding there is a readiness for changing the Mou into a contract in a short period that will be a turning point for both countries.