Turkmenistan has stopped natural gas exports to Iran from the Jan. 1, according to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) on Sunday.
According to the company, NIGC will now solely meet the natural gas needs in the country's north. Iran produces 700 million cubic meters a day of natural gas and Turkmenistan was previously supplying only 2 percent of this amount.
"There are no concerns about any possible shortage of gas in the Iranian northern and northeastern provinces and the officials have devised the necessary precautionary measures," said an official from Iran's Petroleum Ministry, according to IRNA.
Claims have arisen that the gas cuts arose because Iran failed to pay for the gas, but Iran asserts that payments were made to Turkmengaz, the national gas company of Turkmenistan.
Reporting by Mustafa Melih Ahishali in Tehran
Writing by Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
huseyin.erdogan@aa.com.tr