Iran says can supply gas for EU pipeline - if asked

SOFIA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday his country was ready to supply gas for a major European Union pipeline scheme but added it was up to the bloc to decide whether it wanted it or not.

The EU, which has backed Nabucco to reduce its depedendence on Russian gas, said in November it did not need or desire Iranian gas for the pipeline, planned to go via Turkey and the Balkans to Austria.

"What happens in Europe and what choice will Europe make depends only on Europe," Mottaki told a news conference during a visit to Bulgaria.

"As far as we know the European Union emphasises on the need to diversify gas supplies ... One of the areas where Iran can have energy cooperation with Europe is Nabucco," Mottaki said, speaking through an interpreter.

Turkey has offered to supply Iranian gas for the pipeline but some EU member countries have misgivings because the Islamic Republic is subject to United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme.

The shareholders in the 5-billion-euro Nabucco, which aims to bring Caspian and Middle Eastern gas, has so far secured supplies from Azerbaijan which analysts say would not be enough to make the project viable.

Other countries mentioned as possible suppliers include Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt and even Iraq.

Nabucco is key in EU efforts to diversify gas supplies away from Russia after a political dispute between Moscow and Kiev cut exports in 2006. Russia supplies a quarter of the EU's gas.

Analysts have said that Iran, which sits on the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia, is an unlikely importer of gas for Nabucco not least because of its poor track record as a supplier due to underdeveloped infrastructure. (Reporting by Anna Mudeva)