Russia, Iran Working On Expanding Overland Gas Pipeline Capacity

Russia and Iran are continuing to work on joint projects to create new land corridors for Russian gas shipments to Iran, according to a joint statement issued by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Iranian Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad. The two sides also discussed the implementation of other joint energy infrastructure projects. They also discussed their bilateral coordination within OPEC+ and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

Novak also said that Russia is ready to help Iran broaden its trade and economic ties with the Eurasian Economic Union. The Iran-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement commences from May 15.

The talks were held ahead of the 18th meeting of the Russia-Iran Intergovernmental Trade and Economic Cooperation Commission on April 25. The meeting is expected to lead to the signing of a number of cooperation documents in various sectors.

In early 2025 Iran and Russia agreed on the itinerary of a gas pipeline from Russia to Iran: it would pass through Azerbaijan. Initially the pipeline would have a moderate capacity of 2 billion cubic meters per year, but there was a preliminary agreement to increase that to 55 billion cubic meters, according to Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev.

Last week Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said the two countries had almost fully resolved their issues in the framework of a project to transit Russian gas across Iran, saying that “The document has been signed. We are fully prepared and are conducting technical studies, while issues are 90% resolved. In the project framework, there is a possibility to start using the existing gas pipeline, and to also build a new one as a branch of the existing pipeline.”