Iran's oil minister said Friday that Tehran and Moscow have made an initial agreement to swap natural gas, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported late Friday.
Nozari added that negotiations are still underway to reach a final deal, according to Mehr.
"The two sides are continuing their negotiations," Mehr cited Nozari as saying.
Mehr said according to the deal, Iran will receive gas from Russia in the northern part of the country and will export the same amount of gas for Russia through the Persian Gulf.
"Iran will receive gas on the northern borders and deliver the same amount to (foreign) customers in the south" when the deal is finalized, the Iranian oil minister added, reported Mehr.
Nozari said the Islamic republic is also negotiating with Turkey on gas transports, but added that "Iran has not yet reached an agreement with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on gas swapping," according to Mehr.