The flow of Iranian natural gas to Turkey halted after an explosion hit a gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, a senior Iranian official told Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim today.

“Iran’s gas flow to Turkey has temporarily stopped because of a blast by some opposition groups inside Turkey around 1830 GMT on Thursday night,” Interior Ministry official Majid Aghai told Tasnim.

Sabotage is common on pipelines leading into Turkey from Iran and Iraq, where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group is based.

Although one of the largest economies in the region, Turkey is not rich in energy sources, including fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. It is therefore almost entirely dependent on importing its energy supply needs from neighbouring countries.

There are suggestions that Turkey’s energy needs play a significant role in determining its major foreign policy objectives, and how far it is willing to push on certain issues.

For instance, and although Ankara has long supported the Syrian opposition, it has attempted to keep ties with neighbouring Iran, perhaps the Assad regime’s most ardent backer, as friendly as possible. This is likely due to Turkey being dependent on not only Iranian energy, but also Russian.

A two-year-old ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July last year, triggering renewed violence.

The PKK has fought a three-decade-old insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 people throughout Turkey. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.