Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with a high level delegation arried in Tehran on Monday night. His delegation comprised of 200 political and economic officials including 20 MPs, ministers of foreign affairs, energy, foreign trade, culture, environment and industry, and eighty representatives of private sector companies, as well as 30 media representatives.

During his stay Erdogan attended a joint economic meeting between Iran and Turkey, and a press conference as well as meeting with numbers of Iranian merchants and businessmen in the Iran Chamber of Commerce.
The Turkish prime minister was officially welcomed by Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi at the presidential office on his arrival on Tuesday (Oct. 27). During his two day visit he had meeting with the Supreme Leader, the president, and other high level official dignitaries.
Before his arrival in Tehran, Erdogan won praise from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his public criticism of Israel as the two neighbors displayed signs of friendship.
At a televised news conference Erdogan called Iranian nuclear program “an energy project that is peaceful and humanitarian,” before departing for Tehran.
Turkish Prime Minister met with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday.
Two sides also examined important issues such as the transit of gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey via Iran and the problems in the transportation of goods and passengers through the common ground border checkpoints.
Erdogan described the upcoming 21st meeting of the Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Commission as an important move to boost the annual economical transitions from $10 billion to $20 billion.
Turkish prime minister also met with Parliament Speaker, Ali Larijani on Wednesday. During this meeting Larijani pointed out the strategic role of the two countries can lead to peace and security in the region.
Erdogan met the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday. The Leader described West’s prescription regarding regional problems “unjust, unfair and inefficient.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also highlighted the importance of a well planned cooperation between Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, saying certain countries will “of course” oppose this cooperation.
The leader reiterated that Iran would support any movement that would strengthen the Islamic world and this is why Tehran-Ankara relations have reached its highest level since the Islamic Revolution. Turkey mediation
----Turkey mediation
Before his arrival in Tehran Erdogan had received an official invitation by U.S. President Barrack H. Obama for a visit to Washington on October 29, after his Tehran visit. And prior to Tehran he had a three day trip to Pakistan. So there was some talk of Turkey acting as mediator between Tehran and Washington.
On October 28, Etemad daily’s lead headline: “Possibility of Tehran-Washington mediation by Turkey”. The daily gave three reasons for this prediction: First Erdogan will visit Washington immediately after Tehran. Secondly, ahead of his Tehran visit, Erdogan told the New York Times that he is willing to mediate. Thirdly, considering Turkey’s political position in the region and being a NATO member, it has close relations with both Iran and the U.S.
However, at a press conference in the Turkish Embassy in Tehran on Wednesday, Erdogan said that Turkey is not going to mediate between Iran and the U.S.
According to the media reports on Saturday, Erdogan’s Washington trip has been postponed until December 7.
Gas talks
Turkey relies on Iran for a significant part of its gas imports and also supports Iranian participation in the Nabucco pipeline project as one of the suppliers – something that the U.S. opposes under current political situation.
On Monday Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister, Ibrahim Redafzoun confirmed that around $3.5-4 billion Turkish investment will be made in phases 6 and 7 of South Pars.
Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz signed the MOU to strengthen energy cooperation, the Mehr News Agency reported.
Transferring Iranian gas to Europe via Turkey, boosting the presence of Turkish firms in Iran's petrochemical sector, and developing Iran's gas fields were among the MOUs.
The Turkish and Iranian governments agreed in July 2007 that the Turkish state oil company TPAO would produce 20.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually from three development phases of Iran's South Pars gas field.
However, the project was fraught with delays and last month Iran gave TPAO one month ultimatum to finalize the deal.
During Erdogan’s stay in Tehran it was announced that the ultimatum will be extended to three months.
Currently Iran exports 50 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey daily and with the implementation of this plan another 23 mcm would be added to that figure.