ISLAMABAD: Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, said on Tuesday Washington would not advise any country, including Pakistan, of “considering business deals” with Iran, warning of “ramifications” such as sanctions.
The Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, known as the Peace Pipeline, is a long-term project between Tehran and Islamabad, which has faced delays and funding challenges for over two decades. The pipeline would transport natural gas from Iran to neighboring Pakistan.
Pakistan said in March it would seek a US sanctions waiver for the pipeline, to which the US responded publicly, saying it did not support the project and cautioned about the risk of sanctions in doing business with Tehran.
Widespread media reports this week suggested Iran had slapped Pakistan with a final notice to finish its part of a cross-border gas pipeline or face international arbitration and possibly billions of dollars in fines.
“We will continue to enforce our sanctions against Iran. And as a matter of course, we also advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential ramifications of those deals,” Matthew told reporters in response to a question about Pakistan’s push to complete the pipeline and seek a US sanctions waiver.
“At the same time, helping Pakistan address its energy shortage is a priority for the United States, and we continue to discuss energy security with the Government of Pakistan.”
The pipeline deal, signed in 2010, envisaged the supply of 750 million to a billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for 25 years from Iran’s South Pars gas field to Pakistan to meet its rising energy needs. The pipeline was to stretch over 1,900 kilometers (1,180 miles) — 1,150 km within Iran and 781 km within Pakistan.
Tehran says it has already invested $2 billion to construct the pipeline on its side of the border, making it ready to export. Pakistan, however, did not begin construction and shortly after the deal said the project was off the table for the time being, citing international sanctions on Iran as the reason.
Iran’s oil minister at the time responded by saying that Iran carried out its commitments and expected Pakistan to honor its own, adding that Pakistan needed to pick up the pace of work.
In 2014, Pakistan asked for a 10-year extension to build the pipeline, which expires in September this year. Iran can take Pakistan to international court and fine the country. Local media has reported Pakistan can be fined up to $18 billion for not holding up its half of the agreement.
Faced with a potential fine, Pakistan’s government earlier this year gave the go ahead in principle to commence plans to build an 80 km segment of the pipeline. In March, Pakistan announced it would seek the sanctions’ waiver.
Washington’s support is crucial for Pakistan as the country seeks approval from the IMF executive board for a 37-month $7 billion bailout program signed in July.
Pakistan, whose domestic and industrial users rely on natural gas for heating and energy needs, is in dire need for cheap gas with its own reserves dwindling fast and LNG deals making supplies expensive amidst already high inflation.
Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy, but sanctions by the West, political turmoil and construction delays have slowed its development as an exporter.
Originally, the Pakistan-Iran deal also involved extending the pipeline to India, but Delhi later dropped out of the project.
“I fully support the efforts by the US government to prevent this pipeline from happening,” US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said as he gave testimony at a Congressional hearing earlier this year. “We are working toward that goal.”
US warns Pakistan of ‘ramifications’ of business deals with Iran amid gas pipeline dispute
https://arab.news/bzwuj
US warns Pakistan of ‘ramifications’ of business deals with Iran amid gas pipeline dispute
- Iran has slapped Pakistan with final notice to finish its part of cross-border gas pipeline or face international arbitration
- Pakistan said in March it would seek US sanctions waiver for the gas pipeline but Washington says it does not support the project
Top Pakistani clerics warn government against sending troops to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Pakistani clerics raise alarm over reports of pressure on Muslim nations to provide troops for Gaza stabilization force under Trump peace plan
- Islamabad has previously said that it is willing to join the international stabilization force but ‘not ready’ to play any role in disarming Hamas
ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistan’s top religious and political leaders on Monday warned the government against sending Pakistani troops to Gaza to disarm Palestinian group Hamas, amid discussions over a proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) for the Palestinian territory.
The representative gathering, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, brought together leaders from Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought, alongside leaders of the country’s main religio-political parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
The international stabilization force, which is to be composed of troops from Muslim countries, is the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza announced in Sept. Islamabad has previously said it is willing to join the ISF but “not ready” to play any role in disarming Hamas. Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said this month the group had a “legitimate right” to hold weapons, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that Hamas be disarmed.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting in the port city of Karachi on Monday, Pakistani clerics raised alarm over reports that international pressure is mounting on Muslim-majority nations to provide troops for the transitional security force in Gaza, following Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
“In such circumstances, demands are being made to Muslim countries that they send their forces there to disarm Hamas,” the statement said. “Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan.”
Last month, the United Nations Security Council approved Washington’s plan, which called for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Trump would head, and the stabilization force, which would be empowered to oversee borders, provide security and demilitarize the territory.
The gathering of Pakistani clerics urged Islamabad to resist any diplomatic overtures from Washington regarding troop deployment.
“This gathering, with full emphasis, demands the Government of Pakistan refrain from sending its forces to disarm Hamas and that it should not yield to any pressure in this regard,” the statement said.
The assembly expressed complete support for the liberation of Palestine and described the effort as a “duty of every Muslim.”
It said that Pakistan’s armed forces are “imbued with the spirit of jihad” and that the “notion of placing them against any sacred struggle for the liberation of Baitul Muqaddas or Palestine is impossible for the nation to accept.”
The religious leaders characterized the proposal as a “conspiracy” from which the government must “protect the country.”
Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi and the prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, did not respond to Arab News requests for comment on the statement.
Washington reportedly views Pakistan as a prime candidate for the ISF, given its experience in high-intensity border conflicts and internal counter-insurgency operations.
Last week, Pakistan’s foreign office said that Islamabad had not taken any decision on joining the proposed stabilization force for Gaza and had received no formal request from the US or any other country in this regard.
“I am not aware of any specific request made to Pakistan. We will inform you about any development if it takes place,” Andrabi told reporters.
He also sought to distance the government from rumors of a pending visit by Pakistan’s defense forces chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to the US to meet President Trump.
