Media Wire

Pakistan says to block any external interference on Iran gas project

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has reiterated that Islamabad will deter external interference when it comes to complying with the terms of a natural gas import contract with Tehran.

Dar said in a press conference on Tuesday that Pakistan, as a sovereign nation, is committed to making decisions in its best interests to address energy demands and to meet international obligations.

He was responding to a question about Pakistan’s actions on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline case.

Pakistan approved earlier this year to start the construction of an 80-kilometer pipeline from its border with Iran to its southwestern port city of Gwadar. That came just as the country was nearing a deadline set by Iran to start pipeline construction under the 2009 agreement or face international legal action.

The announcement triggered a negative reaction from the United States, which maintains a harsh regime of economic sanctions on Iran.

US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu told a congressional hearing in early April that the US government was working to prevent the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. He added that Islamabad had not requested a waiver from US sanctions on Iran to conduct gas trade with its western neighbor.

Pakistani officials have indicated that the country does not need a sanctions waiver to build pipelines to import natural gas from Iran.

The gas pipeline project has an old and complicated history and Pakistan makes any decisions based on its national interests and will never accept foreign dictation, noted Dar.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

“Iran Hamdel” campaign sends aid to Gaza amid war

Aid items donated by millions of Iranians within a national campaign, have reached the beseiged…

1 hour ago

Iranian deputy FM: Cooperation with Saudis serves as a successful model for fostering peace and security

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi has said Iran and Saudi Arabia are committed…

2 hours ago

Official: Iran responds to IAEA resolution with increased nuclear enrichment capacity

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), says the organization…

3 hours ago

Pictures: Demonstrators in Tehran support people of Gaza, Lebanon

Hundreds of people gathered in Tehran on Friday morning in front of the United Nations…

3 hours ago

Int’l lawyer: US plans to sanction countries cooperating with ICC on Netanyahu arrest

An international law expert and analyst has revealed the U.S. plans to impose punitive measures…

6 hours ago

Minister of science: 25% of Iranian university professors emigrated due to economic challenges

Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, Hossein Simayee Saraf, addressed on Thursday academic migration…

6 hours ago