Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Iran and Tajikistan are negotiating on possible energy exchange, an Iranian official told Azerbaijan's Trend news agency over the phone.

"At present, the issue of energy resource exchange is on the agenda of not only Iran and Tajikistan, but also Iran and other countries that could benefit from these projects," said Jabbar Vatanfada, director of the Trans-Boundary Rivers and Shared Water Resources Bureau under the Iranian Ministry of Energy.

He said that if a final decision is made on the issue, it will be officially made public.

According to Vatanfada, Iran's policy of exchanging energy and other resources expands the cooperation in this field.

"We are cooperating in energy exchange with all neighboring countries, not only with Tajikistan, to meet common needs," he said.

He added that at present, Iran is exchanging water and oil with such countries as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Official negotiations on this issue have been held between our countries upon Tajikistan's proposal," he said. "The talks were aimed at importing water to Iran from Tajikistan and exporting oil or gas from Iran to Tajikistan."

Vatanfada said these issues must be considered from technical, political and economic points of view.

He stressed that there are different options of this project implementation, and finally, preference will be given to the project which will be able to bring maximum benefits to all the parties involved.

One of these alternatives is to transport resources through Afghanistan, as there is a need for water and energy in some parts of the country, he said.

"If Afghanistan and Tajikistan are seriously interested in the project, its implementation can enhance the security of the whole region," he said.

Iran, the first nation to establish an embassy in Dushanbe after Tajikistan's gaining independence in 1991, is the second biggest investor in the Central Asian state after China. Trade between Iran and Tajikistan exceeded $500 million during the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 19, 2012.