SPEAKER: IRAN TO TRANSFER GAS TO ARMENIA SOON

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Sept 12 2006

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said on Tuesday that the first
gas pipeline to transfer gas from Iran to Armenia is scheduled to
become operational in the coming months.

A report released by Majlis Media Department said that the speaker
made the remark while speaking to reporters at a joint press conference
with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Torossian.

Addressing reporters, Haddad-Adel said that the progress of the gas
project is supervised by the presidents of Iran and Armenia.

Haddad-Adel said that feasibility studies on the second gas pipeline
is currently underway.

He referred to projects on transfer of energy, development and port of
industrial machinery as strategies aiming to boost trade exchanges
between the two states and urged that tourism and investment by
private sector should also be facilitated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the speaker said that establishment of
relations with the Central Asian states and Caucasia has been on the
agenda of Iran’s foreign policy over the past 15 years.

"Meanwhile, Iran-Armenia ties have been quite favorable on account of
the good bonds between Iranian Muslims and Armenian minority," he said.

Turning to the history of the presence of Armenians in Iran, he said
that they contribute to the construction and development of Iran
along with their Muslim countrymen.

For his part, the chairman of Armenia’s National Assembly pointed to
Iran’s nuclear issue and the relevant developments in the region and
said, "All countries should benefit from equal conditions to access
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. No country should abuse its
facilities to restrict other states."

Torossian stated that the terms and conditions of international
treaties should be implemented equally for all world countries.

Besides, he referred to Iran-Armenia commonalties and called for
expansion of cooperation between the two states.