Iran's geopolitical challenges in natural gas markets

This article, applying a descriptive analytical research method, demonstrates Iran’s geopolitical challenges in entering the international natural gas and LNG market. The article takes a quick but necessary look at the 2030 outlook for the role of natural gas in energy economics. It then investigates the impasses and problems faced by Iran, as the holder of the world’s second largest natural gas reserves, in becoming the predominant supplier, or at least finding and maintaining a stable position in the market, in the Indian subcontinent, China, Persian Gulf, Japan, and South Korea. From this point of view, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s twenty-year efforts to gain access to the Indian subcontinent market, which have been put into operation through the Peace Pipeline project, could have been pursued through a less focal and more geopolitical project. Moreover, on the basis of the findings of this study, the strategy of the decision makers in Tehran to find a position in the CNG market in South Korea, Japan, and China faces some prolonged challenges. Likewise, the Persian Gulf market, as lively and dynamic as it is, is not considered to be a strategic market. However, the European market provides more reliable indicators of a strategic, stable, and expanding market. Nonetheless, Iran up until 2010 is still one of the natural gas importers, and, before planning for its access to the target market, must become one of the natural gas exporter countries.