From Der Spiegel, an interesting look at Iran’s desires to use its massive gas reserves and construction of its planned Nabucco pipeline to wield influence over Europe.  As the article notes:

“Iran is planning to leverage its massive gas reserves to increase its influence in Western Europe — by fair means or foul. If selling gas to Europe doesn’t work, then Iran’s Revolutionary Guards may resort to violence in the worst-case scenario.

According to intelligence sources in the Middle East, Iranian leaders are considering making an unusual offer to supply Europe with large quantities of natural gas. The gas would be supplied via the planned Nabucco pipeline, which will run from Azerbaijan to Austria via Turkey.

….Construction work on the Nabucco pipeline is expected to begin in 2009 and to be finished by 2011. The pipeline, which is being built by a consortium headed by the Austrian company OMV, will have a total length of 3,300 kilometers and cost around €5 billion. However the pipeline is controversial within the European Union and Moscow has already made its opposition to the project clear.

The project only makes economic sense if the pipeline is used to full capacity — and Azerbaijan’s natural gas reserves are not sufficient to guarantee that. Hence Iran, which has the world’s second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is the obvious natural partner for the project….”