AFP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to visit the gas-rich Central Asian state of Turkmenistan on August 14 for a two-day visit, the official Neitralny Turkmenistan newspaper reported Friday. ASHGABAT, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to visit the gas-rich Central Asian state of Turkmenistan on August 14 for a two-day visit, the official Neitralny Turkmenistan newspaper reported Friday.
Ahmadinejad visited Ashgabat in July 2006, when he met Turkmenistan’s former leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, who died in December. His successor, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, visited Tehran in June this year.
Like the United States, Russia and China, Iran is courting Turkmenistan for access to its vast gas reserves, estimated at 2.1 trillion cubic meters.
Iranian imports of Turkmen gas are set to rise to 14 billion cubic metres (18 billion cubic yards) this year, up from eight million in 2006.
