US urges Turkey to seek alternative to Iranian gas

At a hearing of the U.S. Senate's Banking Committee on Iran, Undersecretary of State Nick Burns talked about potential financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its refusal to stop its nuclear program despite international pressure.

At a point Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, asked Burns if Turkey was "still" continuing buying gas directly from Iran, and Burns said he believed so.Reed then asked if the United States was involved in an effort to persuade "our NATO ally not to do that."

"A number of our allies - Turkey's a prominent one - a partner like India is another - have long term oil and gas relationships [with Iran] and we're trying to suggest that there are alternatives for the future," Burns said.

"For instance, with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, the alternative to Iranian gas would be Kazakhstan," he said.

At the committee hearing Burns did not mention any alternatives for Turkey, but the United States is known to be promoting the purchase of Azerbaijan's gas through a pipeline via Georgia.

Concerned over Russia's alleged efforts to create a natural gas monopoly in its region and in Europe, Washington is also against a potential additional purchase of Russian gas by Turkey, which is already seen as over-dependent on Moscow.

But Burns acknowledged the problems about urging nations in Iran's region to seek alternative energy resources.

"We're trying to produce a movement towards a systemic shift away from reliance on Iranian energy," he said. "It's very difficult obviously in a neighborhood wherecountries are energy dependent."

The United States, other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are presently working on a new set of economic sanctions on Iran.U.S. President George W. Bush says that he wants a diplomatic solution to the diplomatic row over Iran's nuclear program, but that "all options are on the table." Turkish Daily News