TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Ambassador to Ukraine, Akbar Qasemi-Aliabadi, said that Iran has large gas reserves and is ready to supply natural gas to Ukraine, Tehran Times daily reported on Saturday.
"Both Ukraine and Moldova need natural gas, and Iran has huge gas reserves and is ready to consider future supplies of fuel to the two countries," Qasemi-Aliabadi was quoted as saying.
At present, Ukraine secures a major portion of its needed gas through imports from Russia.
Also, Iran's former oil minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari said the new Iranian administration should focus on exporting natural gas as its trump card in regional and international relations, according to the report.
The country should seriously plan to boost natural gas exports to its neighboring countries and even to Europe, said Nozari.
The United States and the West have slapped different kinds of sanctions on Iran's oil and gas exports and financial sectors over the country's sensitive nuclear activities.
