A senior Iranian official has said that Tehran will take action should Pakistan fail to meet its obligations with regards to the construction of a pipeline for receiving Iran’s natural gas.
“Iran has taken plenty of measures with regard to gas exports to Pakistan and has already laid out a major part of the pipelines as far as the Pakistani borders,” National Iranian Gas Exports Company CEO, Ali-Reza Kameli, said.
“It would be natural that every country would think about the interests of its own people. Therefore, if Pakistan’s action harms our interests we will definitely act in line with terms of the contract,” Iranian petroleum ministry’s official monthly Iran Petroleum quoted Kameli as saying.
He complained that Pakistan has not taken “any specific action with regard to the construction of 780 kilometres of gas pipeline on its soil under the pretext of sanctions on Iran.”
“Therefore, the project has been held in abeyance…In every contract, penalties are envisaged for non-compliance with obligations, but Iran does not like to enter the phase of penalties vis-à-vis its neighbouring country with which it has friendly ties,” said Kameli.
Iran plans to deliver 21.5 mcm/d of gas to Pakistan. Iran looks on course to emerge from sanctions under a July 2015 nuclear deal.
Contractually, Pakistan has to pay steep fines to Iran for failing to build and operate its section of the pipeline by the winter of 2014.
