Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iranian gas exports to Turkey will resume by the end of this month. Zarif said he had received assurances that repairs to the pipeline, which has been closed since March 31, will be completed and that gas flows will be reinstated.
Following an explosion subsequently claimed as a sabotage attack by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), flows through the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline were halted early March 31. The Iran-Turkey gas pipeline has been attacked by the party on at least 11 previous occasions. Within a few days, repairs were completed. This prompted speculation that Turkey was stalling repairs in order to allow state gas importer Botas to import cheap spot LNG cargoes in place of Iranian gas and to pressure Iran to improve their terms under which Turkey imports gas. To persuade its long-term gas suppliers to lower their prices, Turkey planned to use the availability of cheap spot LNG.
