Iranian and Bulgarian officials discussed opportunities for gas supplies from the Islamic Republic, at an intergovernmental meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

Bulgaria's Deputy Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov made his Iranian counterpart, Houshand Fallahtian, familiar with the Balkan gas hub project the government is willing to launch at the Black Sea.

The two deputy ministers also talked about the prospects to encourage cooperation between their respective countries' electricity system operators, the Bulgarian Energy Ministry says in a press statement.

As in other meetings of Bulgarian officials this week, members of the Joint Bulgarian-Iranian Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation agreed that Bulgaria could be a gateway for Iranian products to enter the European market.

Opportunities for participation of Bulgarian or Iranian companies in the respective partner country's tenders for construction or equipment supply tenders in the field of energy.

A joint Committee on Energy and Natural Gas will renew its work after having been inactive for years, the Energy Ministry also said.

Bulgaria is one of many European countries pinning its hope on strong energy cooperation with Iran after sanctions imposed over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program were removed upon an international agreement.

Separately, Sofia and Tehran have been considering ways to improve transport links and help create transit corridors, possibly even under the China-led "modern Silk Road" project.