News

Iran's state TV says the country has begun construction of a 110 million cubic meter per day gas export pipeline to Europe.

The report Monday said the $1.58 billion (euros1.3 billion) pipeline would bring gas to Turkey, with the aim of distribution to Europe. The line, which originates in the southern Iranian town of Assalouyeh and extends to Bazargan, near the Turkish border is slated to be completed within three years.

The project reflects Iran's attempt to expand its gas exports after it was left out of the U.S.-backed Nabucco pipeline project that supply gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe while avoiding Russia.

Iran had offered to help Europe with gas supplies when a Russian-Ukranian dispute over gas pricing left much of the continent in the cold.