Iran said on Saturday that it is carrying out the last stages of testing a pipeline that it plans to use for exports of natural gas to Iraq. Alireza Gharibi, the managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company, told reporters on Saturday that Iran will start exports of natural gas to its western neighbor as soon as pipeline tests finish. “Iran will sit for talks with Iraq within the next few days over the gas export project,” Gharibi added. He further emphasized that Iran has laid 100 kilometers of pipelines related for the project and that Iran will be soon ready to start exporting a daily of 5 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas to Iraq in the first stage. The two countries signed an agreement over the exports of natural gas from South Pars energy hub to Iraq back in 2013.