Iran has sealed a gas export deal with the United Arab Emirates, senior Tehran officials said on Tuesday but they differed on the volume to be shipped per day.
"We have a contract. It will start at 11 million cubic metres, working up to 20 million," said one.
Others named figures between these two amounts. They gave no timeframe for when exports could begin. The officials said gas export deals to Iran's Gulf neighbours had been negotiated on purely commercial terms, brushing aside political frictions.
Iran disputes the three islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb with the United Arab Emirates. The Arab League has said Iran must resolve this dispute before an "observatory" league membership for non-Arab Iran could be considered.