The government delegation of Turkmenistan leaves for Tehran to hold "working meetings on important areas of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran" on January 8-9. The corresponding order was signed by the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov today at a meeting of the Government, announced the newscast of the Turkmen television "Watan".

By signing the document, the head of state addressed the relevant leaders with "specific instructions to hold constructive talks on political and economic issues on the spot.".

During the negotiations, the parties are expected to discuss the resumption of direct supplies of Turkmen gas to Iran.

As reported earlier, Turkmenistan from January 1, 2017 stopped exporting "blue fuel" to the neighboring country due to the large debt of the Iranian side for the gas supplied earlier.

Despite lengthy negotiations, the parties could not agree, and the State Concern "Turkmengas" was forced to file a claim with the International Arbitration Court. In 2020, an arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of Turkmenistan on this dispute, obliging Tehran to pay Ashgabat 2 billion USD.

The President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, having met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which took place on September 17, 2021 in the capital of Tajikistan, agreed to resolve the gas issue.

Two months after this event, the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan on the sidelines of the 15th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Ashgabat agreed on swap deliveries of Turkmen gas through Iran to Azerbaijan.

According to the SWAP contract, from January 2022, Turkmenistan began to supply from 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran, and that, in turn, the same amount of gas to Azerbaijan.

At the expense of gas from Turkmenistan, official Tehran plans to provide gas to the north-eastern provinces of the country.