With Iranian and Venezuelan presidents sitting in the background, the oil ministers of Venezuela Pedro Tellechea and Iran Javad Owji sign a deal in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 12, 2023. (AP)

The Iranian Oil Minister reiterated on Sunday that Iran will protect its rights and interests in the Arash joint gas field.

Javad Owji made the remarks on the sidelines of an Iranian session to discuss the plans and projects for joint oil and gas resources.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran always supports the amicable settlement of border and maritime issues with its neighbors", he said.

Iran also supports joint and combined exploitation of the Arash gas field, he said.

"Anyway if there is no willingness for cooperation, Iran will secure its rights and interests in exploiting and exploring those aforementioned resources on the agenda and will not tolerate any breach of its rights," Owji stressed.

The Arash gas field, known by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as Al-Durra, was founded in 1967 and is situated in the northern Gulf, in the neutral zone between Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

Such developments come after the Minister stated last month that his country intends to construct a gas hub in the industrial zone on the Gulf Coast.

The new gas hub would be constructed in Asaluyeh, located in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr, in collaboration with Russia, Turkmenistan, and Qatar.

ISNA reported Owji as saying that "[Iran,] with 33 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas reserves, ranks second in the world in terms of reserves of this resource," adding, "We are striving to turn the Persian Gulf and Asaluyeh into a gas hub, with the assistance of Russia, Turkmenistan, and Qatar."

OPEC to welcome Iran’s return to oil market when sanctions lifted

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) told the Iranian oil ministry's website SHANA that OPEC will welcome Iran's full return to the oil market when sanctions are lifted. It is worth noting that Iran is an OPEC member, although its oil exports are subject to US sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran's alleged nuclear program.

Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais added that Iran has the capacity to bring on significant production volumes within a short period of time.

"We believe that Iran is a responsible player amongst its family members, the countries in the OPEC group. I’m sure there will be good work together, in synchronization, to ensure that the market will remain balanced as OPEC has continued to do over the past many years," SHANA's English-language website cited him as saying.

Read: Iran boosts daily oil, gas production: oil minister