In an act of interfering in the domestic affairs of Iran and Pakistan, the US is said to have set plans to prevent the construction of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline.
In line with the US hostility towards Iran, a senior official from the Biden administration revealed this Thursday that Washington has plans” to prevent the construction of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline,” a joint project between Tehran and Islamabad that initiated almost a decade ago but has been delayed ever since mostly because of US economic pressures.
Speaking during a congressional hearing, US Assistant Secretary Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, said that“ I fully support the efforts by the US government to prevent this pipeline from happening, and we are working toward that goal.”
The US official also asserted that “we are tracking this planned pipeline between Iran and Pakistan and I don’t know where the financing for such a project would come from, but I don’t think that many international donors would be interested in funding such an endeavor. And the White House will uphold both in letter and spirit all sanction laws related to Iran to prevent this project from happening.”
Less than a few hours on the same day, Pakistan reacted to Lu’s provocative remarks when Islamabad’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement that Pakistan would not change its decision because it is an independent and free decision and the country will implement the project soon despite US opposition.
“Pakistan remains committed to implementing the joint gas project in accordance with the spirit of the bilateral agreement with Tehran,” the Pakistani official said, adding that “Pakistan does not need to consult others or be exempted from sanctions but wants to go ahead with the project of transferring gas from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Why is Washington against such a project at all?
The story of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline dates back to nearly a decade ago when the two countries, along with India, decided to start the construction of a gas pipeline to supply gas from Iran to both Islamabad and New Delhi. At the beginning, the project was referred to as the IPI pipeline. But when India later withdrew from the project due to US pressure, the project changed name to the IP gas pipeline.
But Washington didn’t stop fighting the project even after India pulled out of it and the US sanctions against Iran made Pakistan to think twice over starting to implement the construction phase of the project since it could potentially create problems for Pakistan to cooperate with heavily sanctioned Iran.
Last month, however, Islamabad ended this long pause and officially announced that it has approved the start of construction work on its own 80-kilometer segment of the gas pipeline, which is estimated to cost $158 million. But it seems hostility towards Iran is not the only reason why the US is trying to restlessly to prevent the pipeline from entering the construction phase.
It is clear to anyone who has got eyes and ears that Washington doesn’t approve Islamabad’s foreign policy, especially due to the fact that the country maintains good relations with Iran, China and Russia, while is completely hostile towards India, and Israel.
And as the project is expected to boost Pakistan’s energy security and strengthen the local industry that can be assured sustainable and enhanced gas supplies, it is no surprise that the decision makers in Washington oppose any move that can do any good to Pakistan.
