Pakistan starts work on Iranian gas line opposed by US

Reuters: The Presidents of Iran and Pakistan marked the start of Pakistani construction on a much-delayed gas pipeline on Monday, Iranian media reported, despite U.S. pressure on Islamabad to back out of the project.

Dubbed the “peace pipeline”, the $7 billion project has faced repeated delays since it was conceived in the 1990s to connect Iran’s giant South Pars gas field to India via Pakistan.

The United States has steadfastly opposed Pakistani and Indian involvement, saying the project could violate sanctions imposed on Iran over nuclear activities that Washington says are aimed at developing a weapons capability. Iran denies this.

India quit the project in 2009, citing costs and security issues, a year after it signed a nuclear deal with Washington.

Iranian state television showed live footage of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari shaking hands and offering prayers after unveiling a plaque to mark Pakistan’s involvement.

Alluding to the United States, Ahmadinejad accused “foreign elements” of seeking to undermine Iran’s relations with Pakistan and to thwart the Islamic Republic’s progress by using its nuclear programme as a pretext.

“I want to tell those individuals that the gas pipeline has no connection whatsoever with the nuclear case,” Ahmadinejad said in a translated address broadcast live on state television that followed the ground-breaking ceremony.

“With natural gas you cannot make atomic bombs. That’s why they should have no excuse to oppose this pipeline.”

The U.S. State Department repeated U.S. concerns about the project, saying if completed it could bring on U.S. sanctions but also questioning whether it will ultimately be built.