Switzerland's foreign minister was travelling to Tehran on Sunday to sign a natural gas purchase contract between Iran and a Swiss utility, a deal she said could help ease Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
Micheline Calmy-Rey would also meet Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and other officials to discuss Iran's human rights record and ongoing international concerns about the country's nuclear programme. The gas deal between Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft Laufenburg (EGL) and the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) does not violate United Nations or US sanctions imposed on Iran, Calmy-Rey said.
EGL said last year it had completed a 25-year deal with NIGEC to deliver 5.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe through a pipeline scheduled to be complete in 2010.
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