Oil Minister Not Rule Out Iran-US Coop. in Oil, Gas Sectors

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad stated that cooperation between Tehran and Washington in the oil and gas sector is possible in light of the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Asked about the odds of cooperation between Iran and the United States in the oil and gas sectors in view of the continuation of nuclear negotiations between the two countries, Paknejad said, “Everything is possible.”

The minister added that it is not yet clear whether oil and gas cooperation between the two sides would become operational at this stage.

Deputy for Economic Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry of Iran Hamid Ghanbari had announced at a meeting in the Iran Chamber of Commerce on February 15 that shared interests in the areas of oil and gas, joint fields, mineral investments, and even aircraft purchases have been included in the text of negotiations with the US.

The second round of indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States was held in Geneva on February 17, mediated by Oman.

In comments after the conclusion of the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the negotiations were conducted in a serious atmosphere and were more constructive compared to the earlier round.

According to the foreign minister, various ideas were proposed and reviewed during the talks in an effort to move toward drafting a text. He said the two sides reached a general agreement on guiding principles and would from now on discuss those principles in order to enter the stage of writing the text. - Mehr