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Ahmadinejad in Moscow for GECF, talks with Putin
July 1, 2013, 6:24 pm

[AP]

GECF members account for over 60 per cent of world’s gas reserves [AP]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Moscow for the second summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

Iran’s president-elect Hassan Rouhani has not yet assumed office.

The outgoing Iranian president will hold energy talks with senior Russian diplomats and President Vladimir Putin, who will chair the two-day summit.

The two sides will also discuss the situation in Syria, among other items.

“There are numerous subjects for cooperation between Tehran and Moscow,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said.

Ahmadinejad will also meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Speaking at the forum, the outgoing president called on member-states to get rid of the monopoly of specific groups that “have a history of colonialism” and “imposes large scale discrimination.”

The GECF forum seeks to support the sovereign rights of member countries over their natural gas resources and their ability to independently plan and manage gas resources.

The first GECF summit was held in Doha in 2011 and the next meet will be hosted by Tehran.

The Forum unites 13 member-states: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Kazakhstan, Iraq, Holland and Norway have the status of Observer Members.

GECF members account for over 60 per cent of the world’s gas reserves.

Source: Agencies with additional reporting by Daria Chernyshova in Moscow, Russia