Tehran has attempted to manage Moscow's perception of Iranian energy's appeal to European customers, saying it still wants to respect Russia's traditional role as the largest supplier of natural gas to the European market. However, a potential shift in U.S.-Iranian relations is leading more markets to consider Iran as a natural gas supplier, as are trends in the global energy industry, which is trying to re-enter Iranian oil and natural gas plays. Iran's deputy oil minister for international and trade affairs, Ali Majedi, reiterated Tehran's desire to export natural gas to Europe on May 7, citing three possible routes along which Iran could pipe the energy product. In recent weeks, Iran has even discussed transiting Turkmen natural gas to additional markets as well.