January 17-2014
The Pakistani government has finally acknowledged publicly that the agreement Iran signed with the Big Six in November does not allow for the Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline to go ahead without facing punitive sanctions.
The Pakistani media has been filled with stories in recent weeks about how the stalled pipeline can now go forward, with only a handful of journalists understanding that the agreement changes nothing with regard to the pipeline.
The Pakistani government has been silent until now, apparently fearful of the many Pakistani citizens who think the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is very close to Saudi Arabia and therefore doesn’t really want the pipeline with Iran, despite Pakistan’s desperate need for natural gas.
But on Monday, the Pakistani Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told a Senate committee that the much publicized relaxation of sanctions contained in the interim agreement does not change anything that has to do with the pipeline.
Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said companies that could build the pipeline on the Pakistani side of he border would still be likely to face US sanctions if they started work.