Khawaja Asif hopeful about Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline completion despite US warning

• Minister insists regional stakeholders "protect their interests".
• Asif terms President Raisi's Pakistan visit "great development".
• Calls out hypocritical, discriminatory attitude of western nations.
  

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has expressed hope that the obstacles in the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will be removed and it will be completed.

The minister, in conversation with Geo News, maintained that regional stakeholders must gather on a common platform to protect their interests in light of the turmoil and unrest being faced by countries in the region, and an increased intervention of big powers such as the European and western nations through proxies, particularly in the context of Israel.

Asif, in this regard, termed the "successful visit" of Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi a "great development".

The Iranian president's visit was a landmark moment, especially with regard to the pipeline project, which has remained stalled in the wake of geopolitical issues and international sanctions.

The minister's statement comes at a significant time when the United States has, on multiple occasions over this week, hinted towards the "potential risk of sanctions" in light of the business deals — particularly the execution of the gas pipeline project — between Iran and Pakistan following President Raisi's crucial visit.

The senior cabinet member lamented the hypocritical and discriminatory attitude as well as the lack of principles of Western nations with respect to the acts committed by Israel in comparison to other countries around the world.

Asif underscored that terrorism is a common problem for Iran and Pakistan, and needs to be controlled.

The federal minister said both the brotherly countries will fight terrorism together. It does not matter if anyone is hurt by the visit of the Iranian president,' he added.

He maintained that Pakistan and Iran have a long history of relations and while the Iranian president wanted to conduct a large meeting during his visit, the government could not make arrangements due to security concerns.

The statements by the minister also hold importance in the context of the 28-point joint statement issued by the Foreign Office a day earlier, which outlined the agreement between Iran and Pakistan on energy including trade in electricity, power transmission lines and the pipeline project.

The US, however, advised against business deals with Iran, asking to remain aware of the potential risk of sanctions.

Pak-Iran gas pipeline project

The pipeline deal, signed in 2010, envisaged the supply of 750 million to a billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for 25 years from Iran's South Pars gas field to Pakistan to meet Pakistan's rising energy needs.

The pipeline was to stretch over 1,900 kilometres (1,180 miles) - 1,150 km within Iran and 781 km within Pakistan.

Tehran says it has already invested $2 billion to construct the pipeline on its side of the border, making it ready to export.

Pakistan, however, did not begin construction and shortly after the deal said the project was off the table for the time being, citing international sanctions on Iran as the reason.

Iran's oil minister at the time responded by saying that Iran carried out its commitments and expects Pakistan to honour its own, adding that Pakistan needs to pick up the pace of work.

In 2014, Pakistan asked for a 10-year extension to build the pipeline, which expires in September this year. Iran can take Pakistan to international court and fine the country. Local media reported that Pakistan can be fined up to $18 billion for not holding up its half of the agreement.

Faced with a potential fine, Pakistan's caretaker administration earlier this year gave the go-ahead in principle to commence plans to build an 80 km segment of the pipeline.

In March, Islamabad said it would seek a US sanctions waiver for the pipeline. However, later that week, the US said publicly it did not support the project and cautioned about the risk of sanctions in doing business with Tehran.

Washington's support is crucial for Pakistan as the country looks to sign a new longer-term bailout program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the coming weeks.

Pakistan, whose domestic and industrial users rely on natural gas for heating and energy needs, is in dire need of cheap gas with its own reserves dwindling fast and LNG deals making supplies expensive amidst already high inflation.

Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy, but sanctions by the West, political turmoil and construction delays have slowed its development as an exporter.

Originally, the deal also involved extending the pipeline to India, but Delhi later dropped out of the project.

— Additional input by Reuters