Tasnim� A top Iranian energy official unveiled plans for a rise in natural gas exports to neighboring Iraq next year.

In an interview with Tasnim on Saturday, Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Hamid Reza Araqi said the country�s exports of natural gas to Iraq will increase during the spring and summer of 2018.

Iran�s gas exports to Iraq, which now stand at 14 million cubic meters a day, are planned to reach the maximum capacity within three years, he added.

On June 22, at the beginning of summer, Iran started to export natural gas to Iraq after years of negotiations and settlement of financial problems.

Iran�s daily gas exports to Iraq are to reach 35 million cubic meters at the final stage.

Tehran and Baghdad signed a deal on the exports of natural gas from the giant South Pars Gas Field in 2013.

Under the deal, the Iranian gas is delivered to Sadr, Baghdad and al-Mansouryah power plants in Iraq through a 270-kilometer pipeline.