TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Turkmenistan could halt exports of natural gas to Iran as soon as Saturday if the neighbors fail to reach agreement over contested arrears dating back more than a decade, an Iranian oil official said on Friday.
Tehran said last week that Turkmenistan had threatened to cut the gas flow because of the arrears, which amounted to about $1.8 billion, while Iran wants to refer the issue to arbitration. "If the two countries cannot reach an agreement today, Turkmenistan will probably stop its gas exports to Iran from tomorrow,” an unnamed Iranian official was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.