"Turkmenistan has insisted it cut gas to Iran 12 days ago because of a technical fault with the export pipeline and Iran's failure to pay for supplies.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Turkmenistan had hampered his country's ability to cope with the recent severe cold and heavy snow that has caused at least 28 deaths, including eight from the cold.
In a statement, the Turkmen foreign ministry reiterated that natural gas shipments to Iran had been suspended since 1 January because of the need to perform repairs on the 200km (125 mile) export pipeline.
Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian state-owned Press TV station had reported that one of the reasons for the cut was a dispute between the two countries on the price of gas.
It said Turkmenistan had proposed almost doubling the price agreed last year, from $75 (£38) per 1,000 cubic metres of gas to $140 (£71) per 1,000 cubic metres.
Despite its massive oil and gas reserves, Iran imports about 5% of its natural gas supply from Turkmenistan.
The Iranian Oil Minister, Gholamhossein Nozari, told the Fars news agency that Tehran would not discuss prices until Turkmenistan resumed its gas supplies."
This move by Iran will not be detrimental for its economy since it only imports 5% of its natural gas. Though doubling gas prices might be detrimental for Turkmenistan. Even though a customer like Iran imports so little gas, other countries that receive large amounts gas from Turkmenistan might not be able to purchase the gas anymore with such high prices.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7186402.stm
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