Pakistan FM vows to implement Iran gas pipeline project despite U.S. warning

ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday defended the 7.5 billion-U.S.-dollar gas pipeline with Iran and said Islamabad will take the project forward despite sanctions on Iran.

Qureshi's comments came hours after U.S. Special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke warned Pakistan against the pipeline intended to bring the much-needed natural gas to the energy starved country.

Pakistan and Iran formally signed the deal in Tehran on June 13, under which Iran will supply Pakistan with natural gas from mid- 2014.

"The gas pipeline project with Iran is in Pakistan's interests, " the Pakistani Foreign Minister told a news conference in the city of Multan in Punjab.

Qureshi said that Pakistani experts are of the opinion that sanctions on Iran will not affect gas pipeline project as it is a bilateral agreement and both countries have already finalized the deal.

He said that gas pipeline deal with Iran will not violate international laws, adding Pakistan will focus on its interests without violating international laws.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister said that the visiting U.S envoy Richard Holbrooke also remained silent when he was asked about the Iran gas pipeline deal on Saturday.

He said sanctions on Iran have not been imposed for the first time and that the Islamic republic had also been slapped with curbs three times before. He added that it is fourth time that Iran has been sanctioned, adding that if these sanctions have been imposed under chapter 7 of the UN then all UN members will apply and Pakistan will respect it like other countries.

The pipeline was initially mooted to carry gas from Iran to Pakistan and on to India. India withdrew from negotiations last year after signing a nuclear deal with the United States, but has kept open the option of rejoining the project at a later stage.

Iran will export more than 21 million cubic metres (742 million cubic feet) of natural gas daily, according to the deal.

Meanwhile Iranian ambassador in Islamabad Mash' Allah Shakeri has said the multi-billion Iran gas pipeline has enhanced Pakistan ' s strategic importance, particularly in relation to India.

"In addition to the added economic value of billions of dollars, the Iran gas pipeline agreement has boosted the strategic value of Pakistan in the region. If there is any third country recipient, they have to recognize that Pakistan is going to provide a peaceful passage," Shakeri told Express Television in an interview.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

  AFP, June 20, 2010

The US special envoy to Pakistan said Sunday he had warned Islamabad against signing a deal with Iran on a gas pipeline, saying the US was preparing laws that could affect the project.

"We cautioned the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation," Richard Holbrooke, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan as well as Pakistan, told reporters.

"Pakistan has an obvious major energy problem. We are very sympathetic to it. In regard to the specific project, legislation is now being prepared which may apply to this project," said Holbrooke.

He declined to give details, saying he was not involved in drawing up the legislation, but cautioned that it could be "comprehensive."

"This can range from legislation which could be so comprehensive that something like this could create a major problem for any company or country," Holbrooke said.

Iran and Pakistan last week formally signed an export deal which commits Iran to selling natural gas to its eastern neighbour from 2014.

Iran has already constructed 907 kilometres of the pipeline between Asalooyeh, in southern Iran, and Iranshahr, which will carry natural gas from Iran's giant South Pars field.

The pipeline was originally planned to connect Iran, Pakistan and India, but the latter pulled out of the project last year.

Pakistan plans to use the gas purchased from Iran for its power sector.

The Obama administration on Wednesday added Iranian individuals and firms to a blacklist as part of US and European efforts to tighten the screws on Iran a week after UN approved sanctions against its nuclear programme.

The new US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran's nuclear or missile programmes as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran's defence minister Ahmad Vahidi.

The United States has long offered Iran trade and other incentives in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment programme, which western powers fear masks a drive to build a nuclear bomb.

Iran claims its aims are peaceful.

US wants Pakistan to forgo pipeline deal

Press TV, Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:30:04 GMT

Iran has already constructed 907 kilometers of the pipeline in the southern part of the country.
The US special envoy to Pakistan says he sought to dissuade Islamabad from signing a gas pipeline deal with Tehran, amid plans to intensify pressure on Iran.

US President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told reporters on Sunday that Washington is now busy processing bills that if passed could target the project, as well as any countries or firms involved.

"We cautioned the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation," he said but did not elaborate on the anticipated sanctions beyond a caution that that they could be "comprehensive."

"This can range from legislation which could be so comprehensive that something like this could create a major problem for any company or country," Holbrooke warned.

The announcement comes one week after Iran and its neighbor formally signed an export deal, under which Iran agrees to deliver 21.2 million cubic meter (750 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day to Pakistan from 2014.

The 7.6-billion-dollar deal was finalized after the UN Security Council voted to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran, broadening earlier financial and military restrictions over allegations that Iran's nuclear program may not be civilian.

Pakistan has stressed that the deal with Iran does not fall within the new UNSC sanctions.

The US has sought to increase pressure on Iran through further unilateral sanctions -- a lead closely followed by Australia and the European Union -- which would not have been approved by veto-wielding Russia and China in the Security Council.

India -- which was originally part of the pipeline projects but pulled out last year over pipeline security concerns -- rebuffed similar US efforts earlier this year.

"We have no comments to make on what the US official has said. But energy security is of prime concern to the government, and the India-Pakistan-Iran pipeline has to be seen in this context," an official within India's foreign ministry said last April.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely aimed at the peaceful application of the technology.

Iran firmly rejects Western allegations that its nuclear program harbors a secret military drive and says its nuclear program aims to employ the peaceful aspects of the technology for civilian electricity generation and medical research.

ZHD/HGH