Bovard made the comments on a visit to Moscow on Sunday to accompany President Masoud Pezeshkian at the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

Cooperation between Iran and Russia in the gas sector entered a new phase in June 2024, when the National Iranian Gas Company and Russia’s Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the transfer of Russian natural gas to Iran.

In April 2025, officials from the two countries said they were examining plans to transport Russian gas to Iran via Azerbaijan. At the time, the initial transfer volume was estimated at around 1.8 billion cubic meters per year, while the project’s potential capacity in subsequent phases was estimated at up to 55 billion cubic meters annually.

As the negotiations progressed, Saeed Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said in June 2026 that gas pricing and payment arrangements remained among the issues under discussion for finalizing a Russian gas import contract.

Bovard also reported progress on the broad gas exchange agreements as negotiations between the two countries continued. However, the details of the new agreement and its relationship with the proposed gas import project via Azerbaijan were not specified in the reported remarks.

The presidents of Iran and Russia are scheduled to meet in the coming days on the sidelines of the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin had emphasized the development of economic and strategic cooperation in the energy sector during a meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.

MNA