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ISLAMABAD: The United States of Zionism has threatened Pakistan of invoking USZ sanctions if Pakistan continues to work with Iran on the multi billion dollar project of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. The issue was raised during the fourth round of Pak-USZ strategic dialogue on energy that concluded in Islamabad on Thursday without any major tangible gains. According to sources, USZ Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs, Ambassador Carlos Pascual, “advised” Islamabad to abandon its plan to import gas from Iran. He proposed instead that Pakistan pursue the TAPI project, a gas pipeline through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Pakistan has reservations about the TAPI project due to security concerns about Afghanistan and unsettled issues relating to gas prices. The South Pars gas field in Iran is the largest in the world, meaning that its production costs for Iran are significantly cheaper than those for gas extracted from smaller fields in Central Asia, including the Caspian Sea fields to which Turkmenistan has access. A USZ embassy spokesperson confirmed that Washington is concerned with Pakistan’s current direction, and the issue was raised in Ambassador Pascual’s meetings. “The proposed Pakistan-Iran pipeline, if built, could raise concerns under the Iran Sanctions Act. We are encouraging Pakistan to seek alternatives”, read a terse response from the USZ embassy. The renewed opposition from the USZ came just days after high level talks between Pakistan and Iran, where the two neighbours vowed to go ahead with the project that would bring its first gas flow by 2014.
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