MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2023) Iran is ready to finalize a gas pipeline with Pakistan despite Washington's sanctions and believes that the project is in the interests of both sides, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday.
"We have held important talks on the IP (Iran-Pakistan) gas pipeline project. We consider the completion of the gas pipeline to be in the interests of both nations and are ready for this pipeline to go through the implementation stage as soon as possible. We have talked about the presence of some obstacles, as well as financial and banking problems and (ways) to solve them within the framework of international law," Amirabdollahian was cited by Iranian news agency Fars as saying at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The IP gas pipeline was initially supposed to be completed by December 2014, with gas deliveries scheduled to start in January 2015, but Pakistan has failed to get the pipeline from the Iranian border to the city of Nawabshah in southern Sindh province up and running.
Tehran has completed its part of the project by building a section of the pipeline on its territory to the Pakistani border and demanded that Islamabad complete its part by March 2024 or pay a fine of $18 billion, saying that the US sanctions were illegal.
Pakistani newspaper The News reported in May that Islamabad was waiting for the United States' response regarding the impact of its sanctions on Iran to make a final decision on the IP gas pipeline project. Pakistani officials were reportedly positive about the project, as Saudi Arabia did not oppose it anymore, the newspaper added.
