Leaders of Several Countries Arrive in Tehran for Gas Exporters Summit

Leaders of 9 member countries of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, including the presidents of Nigeria, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Bolivia, and Venezuela, as well as the Prime Minister of Algeria, have traveled to Tehran to participate in the third meeting of this forum. The leaders present in Iran will also meet with the President and other senior government officials in Tehran. The President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, upon his arrival in Iran on December 1. In this meeting, Berdimuhamedow spoke about advancing joint economic projects. According to the information office of Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic referred to 'ISIS and Takfiri groups' and the 'tense conditions in the region,' stating that increased cooperation for maintaining peace is 'essential.' The summit of the member and observer countries of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum will begin on Tuesday, December 2. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is another member of this forum who will personally arrive in Tehran to meet with Iranian officials. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum includes 12 main members and several observer members. Iran, Russia, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Venezuela are considered main members. This group holds nearly 70% of the world's gas reserves. Iran and Russia are at the top of the list of gas owners in terms of natural gas volume in gas fields or associated oil fields. Before the nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers, when Tehran's relations with the West were largely tense and crisis-ridden, gas exports were also affected by Western sanctions. Following the agreement reached in Vienna on July 14, it was decided that international sanctions would be lifted in exchange for limiting Iran's nuclear program. Many European Union countries are dependent on Russian gas. In some cases, political disputes or issues related to gas transfer or its price have seriously affected the transfer process. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, has expressed readiness for the implementation of the 'gas transfer network to Europe,' but on the other hand, he emphasized that Tehran does not want to replace Moscow in this regard if Russian gas transfers are cut off.