The Role of Energy Factor in Iran-Turkmenistan Relations

The disintegration of the Soviet Union brought about a major change in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The countries that became politically independent faced many challenges for their economic development due to the structure of their economy. On the other hand the natural resources which are available in some of these countries acted as an important factor in their economic development. These potentials attracted the regional and extra-regional powers towards this region. Moreover, the location of these countries as landlocked countries, and Russia’s monopoly over energy pipelines led them to search for new partners in order to reduce their dependency. In present article, Turkmenistan a former Soviet republic and Iran a regional actor which has interest in the region’s energy issues are studied. The question which is raised by this article is what role energy plays in relations between Iran and Turkmenistan. The hypothesis is that energy factor has brought closer relationship between the two and has led to the expansion of their relations. The article has examined the position of the two countries in energy reserves in the region and the world, the joint projects, investment of each country in the other country in the field of exploitation and transit of energy resources. This study is based on review and analysis of news, official statistics, books and academic articles about the two countries.