Iran on Sunday announced a deal with Russia for the supply of 40 turbines to help its gas industry amid Western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, local media reported.
Iran’s “industrial achievements are not limited to missiles and drones,” Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company CEO Reza Noushadi was quoted as saying by Shana, the oil ministry’s news agency.
“Currently, 85 percent of the plants and equipment needed by the gas industry are built in the country, and based on this capability, a contract to export 40 Iranian-made turbines to Russia was recently signed,” he added.
Noushadi did not specify when the contract was signed and when the turbines are due to be delivered.
After imposing economic sanctions over the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine, Russia reduced or halted supplies to various European nations, sending energy prices skyrocketing.
The Kremlin insists sanctions have prevented proper maintenance of Russia’s gas infrastructure and, in particular, blocked the return of a Siemens turbine repaired in Canada.
“Give us a turbine, we’ll turn on Nord Stream tomorrow,” Putin said at the Vladivostok forum in September, referring to a vital gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Western countries have accused Russia of using gas supplies as a “weapon”.
FILE – A ship works on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany off the Baltic Sea on November 11, 2018. (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP, file)
Noushadi said the US sanctions against Russia were aimed at excluding Moscow from the gas market.
“In recent years, the United States of America has built large-scale LNG production plants, and recently with the comprehensive embargo against Russia and the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, effectively eliminated one of its biggest competitors in gas exports,” he noted.
Russia and Iran have some of the largest gas reserves in the world and are both subject to severe US sanctions.
In recent months, both countries have emphasized the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July, where he met his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who also called for stronger “long-term cooperation” with Moscow.
Tehran recently refused to supply Russia with weapons to use in the war after Kyiv and its western partners accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
