For a nation unwilling to get serious about renewable energy, and all too willing to go to war for oil, telling another nation where to get their energy might be considered a bit ironic:

United States officials fresh from a regional energy conference said on Saturday Turkish plans to produce natural gas in Iran should be replaced with projects with other regional suppliers Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

The meeting came two days after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not cut its relationship with Iran, its second biggest gas supplier. Turkey plans to invest $3.5 billion in Iran for gas production.

“There is no shortage of gas in the region. The question is developing it in a responsible way with states that are politically stable and responsible to the international community,” U.S. Undersecretary of Economic, Energy and Agricultural affairs Reuben Jeffery told a news conference.

Oh, Reuben. “Responsible to the international community?” “Politically stable?” Freedom House lists both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as “not free.” Both have serious human rights violations and are ruled by quasi-dictators. But hey, they let us torture there, so that probably qualifies as “responsible.”

But the main course in this irony buffet is this bit:

Jeffery said both Turkmen and Kazakh gas had potential as alternatives to Iranian gas.

Neither country has the infrastructure to transport its gas to Turkey. Asked what the best export route was for the gas, [U.S. ambassador to Turkey Ross] Wilson responded: “clearly a trans-Caspian pipeline.”

Clearly. You know, the trans-Caspian pipeline that doesn’t actually exist:

Plans to build a trans-Caspian pipeline have been halted because states surrounding the body of water have not come to an agreement over ownership rights of its rich gas resources.

It’s cock-ups like this that should give pause to anyone who thinks that the Bush administration should be doing more on the diplomatic front.