According to the Mehr news agency, he said the deal provided for gas from Iran’s South Pars gasfield in the Persian Gulf to be pumped across Iran, Iraq and Syria to a port in Lebanon for export across the Mediterranean to buyers.
There were several holes in the announcement.
For one thing, Turkey wants to be the conduit for gas from the Persian Gulf and the Caspian to Europe—and it believes it has such an agreement with Iran.
Secondly, Oji said nothing about Lebanon being part of this transit agreement.
Third, he said nothing about who would pay for the pipeline construction.
Fourth, he did not say who would buy the gas. The EU has said it will not buy Iranian gas until the nuclear issue is resolved. So far, the only gas deal Iran has with a European country is with Switzerland, which is not in the EU—and which expects to receive gas piped across Turkey and the Balkans.
Any gas ending up at a Lebanese port would have to be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be moved by tanker across the Mediterranean. That would be a very expensive proposition. Oji said nothing about that either.
He did say that a 5,600-kilometer gas pipeline to Lebanon would cost $5 to $6 billion.