Turkmenistan: Tehran Talks Up Energy Cooperation with Ashgabat

Turkmenistan and Iran are exploring ways to increase security and energy cooperation.

"We want ties bolstered in all fields," Turkmen Parliament Speaker, Akja Nurberdyeva, said after meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, and her parliamentary counterpart, Ali Larijani, in Tehran on November 21-22.

"Iran is prepared to assist Turkmenistan in the gas sector. We are also willing to grant the country access to the Persian Gulf through our railway system," Iranian news agencies quoted Larijani as saying.

President Ahmadinejad is due to visit Turkmenistan in December for the launch of the Turkmenistan-Iran gas pipeline.