Tehran, March 31, IRNA – Iranian gas export to Turkey stopped on Tuesday due to pipeline explosion on Turkish soil, according to Director of National Iranian Gas Company in charge of dispatching Mehdi Jamshidi Dana.

Mehdi Jamshidi Dana told IRNA that Iranian gas pipeline has exploded several times on Turkish soil, adding that in most cases, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) did so, it is also likely that the group has carried out the blast.

He added that the explosion occurred near the Iranian border and stopped gas exports to Turkey from 06:50 Tuesday morning and the Turkish side has not been responsive to it so far.

Jamshidi Dana noted that due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the Turkish border guards at Bazargan post have left, but we have informed them of the explosion and are waiting for their response.

He said that it usually takes three to four days to repair and resume gas exports.

The pipeline, which carries around 10 billion cubic meters of Iranian gas to Turkey annually, frequently came under attack by Kurdish militants since 1990s and up until 2013, when a ceasefire was established.

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