The Iranian news agency IRNA reported on 29 April that Hamid Reza Araqi, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), expressed doubts in the successful completion of the TAPI construction project and proposed Turkmenistan swap deals to supply Turkmen gas to Pakistan.
Araqi also highlighted that swap supplies might be initiated within the shortest possible timeframe.
Five days ago Araqi said that by next month, Iranian and Turkmen experts will review Iran-Turkmenistan differences on their dispute and hoped to reach agreement on the issue so that the case is not referred to the court.
It also became known at the same time that a group of Talibans who surrendered to the authorities and joined the peace process in western Herat province has claimed that they were directed and armed by Iran to disrupt the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline.
Swap deals are a substitution supply scheme which is used in case direct supply is not possible.In case with Iran it means that the Turkmen gas will be first supplied to Iran, which will ship similar volumes of natural gas to Pakistan.
This scheme will help to avoid constructing a transit pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan on the territory of Iran.