Iran 'Likely to Join Nabucco Pipeline' amid Gas Hub Talks with Bulgaria

Bulgaria's PM Borisov (L) and Iran's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri as a Bulgarian delegation is visiting Tehran on July 11, 2016. Photo by GIS

Negotiations between Bulgaria and Iran on Monday are tied to the forming of a "first joint gas center" in the country, Mehr News Agency writes.

In a report on Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's visit to the Islamic Republic, the agency claims that a "joint gas hub" will give rise to the country's return to Nabucco project.

With economic documents between the two states now facilitating trade cooperation between Tehran and Sofia, Iran "is more likely to join Nabucco-West pipeline," according to the report.

International sanctions against the country were among the reasons that brought the project to an end.

Last year, however, Iran's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Abdollah Norouzi, told Novinite that a renewal of the Nabucco project had been brought up in his meeting with Borisov, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, and other cabinet officials.

The information comes as Bulgaria has been trying for months to pitch its idea of a "gas hub" internationally, following the demise of the South Stream project it was to carry out with Russia. Lack of diverse partners for gas deliveries has often been pointed to as a possible hindrance to the project, which Borisov has portrayed as Bulgaria's own initiative.

Separately, Borisov and Iran's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri agreed earlier on Monday to explore a transport corridor project that would link Bulgaria and Iran through Armenia and Georgia, virtually bypassing Turkey, and that, in Borisov's own words, could carry "even gas".

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