Turkey is not the only option for a transit route to deliver Iranian natural gas to European markets, Iran's Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bikdeli told journalists in Ankara over the weekend.

Despite uncertainty concerning the future of sanctions on Iran, Ankara has been seeking to reach an agreement with Tehran to build the Iran-Turkey-Europe Natural Gas Pipeline Project (ITE) to transfer natural gas sourced in Iran via Turkey to Europe.

Bikdeli said on Sunday that Iran and Turkey have continued discussions about a possible agreement over the ITE, adding, however, that Turkey may not be the only option to realize the project. “Turkey is a good candidate for the natural gas project in my opinion, but not the only route. …the project has to be considered with several complicated cost-benefit calculations,” Bikdeli said.