Pakistan: Iran Should Not File a Complaint; We Will Construct the Gas Pipeline

On Wednesday, August 9, Pakistan rejected recent media reports suggesting that the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project with Iran had been "postponed" and announced that it is "actively" working to dissuade Iran from pursuing a complaint regarding this project. According to the English section of Voice of America, Musadik Malik, Pakistan's Minister of Petroleum, stated at a press conference that Islamabad has until March 2024 to reach a solution with Tehran and prevent any legal disputes between the two countries over this project. He also added that both sides are collaborating to find "creative solutions" to continue the project. The Minister of Petroleum said, "We need Iranian gas and are in discussions and activities with the Iranian government to obtain it." His remarks followed last week's media reports that U.S. economic sanctions against Iran due to its nuclear program had deterred Pakistan from continuing the construction of this pipeline. Reports last week quoted Malik as telling lawmakers that "the construction of this pipeline has been suspended due to international sanctions against Iran" and that "it will only resume when these sanctions are lifted." Musadik Malik, in his comments on Wednesday, rejected these reports, stating that his written testimony to the parliament was reflected "incorrectly." However, he admitted that there were "ambiguous" and "insufficient" points in his official text that caused this confusion. The Minister of Petroleum said that the references and communications with Iran mentioned in his testimony were from "about 10 years ago" when Pakistan had initially asked Tehran to halt the project due to U.S. sanctions. Malik also acknowledged that U.S. and UN sanctions against Iran have largely hindered the construction of the pipeline from the Iranian border to the Nawabshah port in Sindh province. Iran claims that it has completed part of its pipeline extending from the Persian Gulf to the border of Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan. Earlier this year, Tehran warned Islamabad that if part of the project is not completed by March 2024, it would have to pay a penalty of around "18 billion dollars." Musadik Malik said, "We are using all our creative thinking as well as existing legal and foreign policy tools to ensure that Pakistan is not sanctioned under any circumstances." Malik's statements aligned with those of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's Foreign Minister, who during a visit to Islamabad last week announced Tehran's readiness to provide immediate assistance in completing this project. Pakistan and Iran want to advance and finalize the joint gas pipeline project despite international sanctions against Tehran. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on Thursday, August 3, urged Pakistan to complete the Iranian gas pipeline project, which has been delayed since 2014, on the Pakistani side. The plan for this energy project dates back to the 1990s. Tehran aims to export gas to Pakistan through over 2,500 kilometers of pipeline. The infrastructure work on the gas pipeline on the Iranian side has already been completed, but on the Pakistani side, it has stalled due to international sanctions against Tehran.