White House sets 'goal' to derail Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline: Official
Pakistan reacted to the comments by a senior US official by stressing that the pipeline's construction is 'an independent and free decision'
A senior US government official revealed Washington has set a “goal” to prevent the construction of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, which has been delayed by almost a decade in large part due to US economic pressure.
“I fully support the efforts by the US government to prevent this pipeline from happening,” US Assistant Secretary Bureau Of South And Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, said during a congressional hearing on 19 March. “We are working toward that goal,” he stressed.
“We are tracking this planned pipeline between Iran and Pakistan … Honestly, I don’t know where the financing for such a project would come from. I don’t think that many international donors would be interested in funding such an endeavor,” the US official added, highlighting that the White House "will uphold both in letter and spirit all sanction laws related to Iran.”
Islamabad reacted to Lu's comments on Thursday, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch saying that the country remains committed to implementing the joint gas project in accordance with the spirit of the bilateral agreement with Tehran.
“Pakistan does not need to consult others or be exempted from sanctions but wants to go ahead with the project of transferring gas from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” she told reporters, adding that the decision of the Pakistani government to go ahead with the IP gas pipeline is “an independent and free decision, which will be implemented soon.”
Last month, Islamabad officially approved the start of construction work on its segment of the pipeline, which is estimated to cost $158 million. This is a last-ditch effort to ward off $18 billion in potential penalties from Tehran.
The 2,775km long IP project was launched in 2013. However, it missed several deadlines due to long-standing US sanctions against Tehran.
Iran says it has already completed its side of the pipeline and has invested $2 billion in the project. Pakistan was initially expected to complete its part of the project by December 2014.
Due to Pakistan's dire economic crisis, the nation experiences regular blackouts lasting 12 hours or more per day.