Pakistan and Iran kicked off gas-pipeline project

Ignoring US completely Pakistan and Iran has kicked off their gas pipeline project on Monday. The proposed pipeline will bring natural gas from Iran to Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that The West has no right to block the project between these two countries.

“Today is a historic day. The gas pipeline project is the beginning of a great work. The Westerners have no right to make any obstacles in the way of the project,” said Ahmadinejad.

“The pipeline has nothing to do with the nuclear issue. You can’t build an atomic bomb with a natural gas pipeline,” Ahmadinejad said Monday.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari thanked Iran for helping Pakistan to get over from the energy shortages through this project. He said the pipeline will prove to be vital of Pakistan’s development.

“In order to help ourselves we’ve got to be economically sound,” he told the audience.

However there are some serious doubts over the fate of this project due to financial constrain. 2000 km long pipeline needs about $1.5 billion. It is not clear how Pakistan will arrange this amount without U.S. help. Although it is speculated that Iran could have given Pakistan a $500 million loan to build part of it.

The U.S. has strongly criticized the project.

“If this deal is finalized for a proposed Iran-Pakistan pipeline, it would raise serious concerns under our Iran Sanctions Act. We’ve made that absolutely clear to our Pakistani counterparts,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

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