TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) -- Georgian Ambassador to Iran Giorgi Janjgava here on Sunday called nuclear technology the Islamic Republic’s right and said that his country strongly “supports Iran’s involvement in Nabucco gas pipeline project.”
Visiting the booth of the Tehran Times daily and the Mehr News Agency at the 16th International Press Festival, the ambassador said, “All countries, especially Iran, have the right to have peaceful nuclear activities and make use of nuclear technology.”
“Georgia fully supports Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,” Janjgava said, calling for eradication of all atomic bombes from around the globe and establishment of a world free of nuclear weapons.
He also referred to the Islamic Republic’s important role in the region and the world, stressing the need for Iran’s more active presence in the Caucasus region.
“There is a great potential for growth of political, economic, and cultural relations between Tehran and Tbilisi,” the ambassador stated, urging expansion of bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries.
Commenting on the Nabucco pipeline project, he spoke of his country’s full support for Iran’s participation in the project.
“Affiliation to Nabucco is an issue upon which Iran can reflect deeply, and also discuss it with the project’s European parties,” he noted.
The Nabucco gas pipeline project is designed to pump Central Asian gas via Turkey to Austria and Germany through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, bypassing Russia. Gas supplies through the pipeline are expected to start in 2014.
The project will be a continuation of the existing Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline and will transport 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year. Two-thirds of the pipeline will pass through Turkish territory.
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq are being touted as potential suppliers.
Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia and the second biggest oil reserves in OPEC after Saudi Arabia.
The Nabucco pipeline is seen as a rival to the Moscow-backed South Stream project designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian gas to the Balkans and onto other European countries, with the pipeline’s capacity expected to be eventually increased to 63 billion cubic meters annually.
Europe has expressed concerns about being dependent on Russia, which supplies a quarter of its gas needs. Calls for diversified supplies intensified following a recent bitter price dispute between Russia and Ukraine in early 2009, when Moscow cut off gas to Ukraine, affecting consumers across Europe.
Moscow has argued, however, that South Stream and Nord Stream would cut EU dependence on transit states like Ukraine and improve European energy security.
The 16th International Festival and Fair of Press and News Agencies opened in Tehran on October 20 and will be closed today.
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