AHMADINEJAD’S COPTER UNABLE TO LAND IN ARMENIA, RETURNS TO IRAN DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
March 19 2007

A helicopter carrying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a border town
in Armenia to inaugurate a newly constructed pipeline could not land
due to bad weather.

The Iranian president and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharyan,
were scheduled to inaugurate today the landmark pipeline that is to
transfer Iranian gas to Armenia.

According to reports, the copter carrying President Ahmadinejad and
his retinue turned back to the Iranian border city of Marand, from
where they will travel to Armenia by land.

The Iranian president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki, Minister of Energy Parviz Fattah and Oil Minister Kazem
Vaziri-Hamaneh in this trip.

President Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharyan,
are to preside over the inauguration ceremony shortly.

The 110-km pipeline, 70km of which is within Iranian territory,
is 40km from the Armenian border to the city of Kajaran.

Some 10 million cubic meters of Iranian gas will be delivered per
day through the 110-km gas pipeline to Armenia when the pipeline
starts operations.

The pipeline, which was due to be completed in 930 days, was finished
in 650 days due to its importance.

Test operations on the project have been conducted. The project is
to be delivered to Armenia within the next few months.

The pipeline has an approximate cost of USD 33 million, 85 percent
of which was financed by the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI)
with the remaining 15 percent put up by Yerevan.