Iran is committed to its gas agreement with Pakistan, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Tuesday, a day after his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the National Assembly that the project could not be taken up because of international sanctions on Iran.
Zanganeh said that Pakistan has not officially informed Iran about its intentions. “We will make a decision as soon as it is officially informed to us by Pakistan,” he added.
Zanganeh had previously said that he is not optimistic about Tehran’s gas exports to Islamabad.
The peace pipeline project was originally initiated between Iran and Pakistan. Later India expressed some interest in joining the project.
The Iranian-Pakistani gas pipeline is projected to cost $1.2-1.5 billion and would enable the export of 21.5 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan on a daily basis.
Iran has already built 900 kilometres of the pipeline on its own soil and is waiting for the construction of 700-kilometre pipeline on the Pakistani side.
However, Pakistan has made little progress on laying its leg of the long planned pipeline; largely due to lack of funds for the costly project and US pressure to drop it.