Iran has expressed willingness to supply gas to Europe via the Nabucco gas pipeline.

Ali Majedi, Deputy Oil Minister in charge of International Affairs, announced that two European countries had already expressed interest in the project.

Majedi, as cited by ITAR-TASS, suggested that Iran, the country controlling the world's biggest gas reserves, could support Europe's attempts to diversify its energy supply sources by covering a part of its needs.

He added that Iran had discussed possible gas supply routes with two European delegations.

Majedi argued that there was a wide range of possible supply routes for Iranian gas to Europe, including via Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Caucasus and the Black Sea.

He insisted, however, that the best option involved a gas pipeline through Turkey.

He was adamant that the Nabucco gas pipeline would be useless without Iranian gas, adding that Turkey had already expressed interest in Iranian gas exports to Europe.

Nabucco shareholders include Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's BOTAS, and Germany's RWE.