Iran has begun building its 100-kilometer section of the planned 140-kilometer pipeline intended to export Iranian natural gas to Armenia, and construction should be completed by the spring of 2005, Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Geghan Gharibjanian told RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service on 20 July. The project has been under discussion for years, but the formal agreement to proceed was signed only in May. On 21 July, senior Gazprom official Aleksandr Ryazanov discussed with Armenian President Robert Kocharian the possibility of the Russian natural-gas monopoly\'s participation in the financing and building of the project. Gazprom has already undertaken a feasibility study of the Armenian section that estimated the cost of construction at $120 million. (RFE/RL)