Spain closes deal to supply Iranian natural gas to Europe

Spain has reached an agreement to ship Iranian natural gas to Europe, in the wake of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that has seen crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted.

The deal came amid a series of meetings between Iranian authorities and an economic trade delegation of some 70 Spanish companies, accompanied by government officials, which visited Tehran, the Iranian Mehr News reported on Monday.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met with Spanish Industry, Energy, and Tourism Minister Jose Manuel Soria and declared Iran’s willingness to develop the infrastructure Spain needs to supply Europe with gas from the South Pars gas field, the largest in the world, which is jointly owned by Iran and Qatar.

“In the meeting we explained Iran’s facilities and programs for development of oil, gas, and petrochemical industries to the Spanish companies and they expressed their interest to cooperate in these fields,” Zanganeh said.

“It was emphasized in the meeting that Iranian and Spanish companies should continue their relations and the Spanish government needs to set the ground for the presence of their companies in Iran,” he noted.

Representatives from Spanish oil giant Respol also met with directors from the National Iranian Oil Company to look at ways of bringing Iranian supplies to the European markets.

The nuclear agreement, reached between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on July 14, aims to curtail Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from economic sanctions.

AFP contributed to this report.