Snubbed on Iran pipeline, US warns Pak of sanctions
13 March 2013 7:18 AM IST
Hours after Pakistan and Iran inaugurated the much-delayed section of a USD 7.5 billion gas pipeline, the US has expressed ‘serious concerns’ and warned Islamabad that if it went ahead with the project it would face sanctions.
‘We have serious concerns, if this project actually goes forward, that the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered. We’ve been straight up with the Pakistanis about these concerns. As I said at some length last week, we are also working very closely bilaterally to support alternative projects to provide Pakistan with the energy that it needs,’ State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.
‘We’ve heard this pipeline announced about 10 or 15 times before in the past. So we have to see what actually happens. If this project actually goes forward, we have serious concerns that sanctions would be triggered,’ she said in response to a question.
‘What the legislation calls for is for our partner countries to be making a concerted effort to reduce their dependence on Iranian oil over time so we are able to waive sanctions as we see reductions being made,’ she added.
‘In the case of the European Union, they’re now at zero. In the case of Japan, they’ve been making a steady decline, as have other countries that we have waived sanctions on. This pipeline project, if it actually goes forward would take Pakistan in the wrong direction right at a time that we're trying to work with Pakistan on better, more reliable ways to meet its energy needs,’ Nuland said.
‘The US’, she said, ‘is helping Pakistan address its energy needs. We are supporting large-scale energy projects in Pakistan that will add some 900 megawatts to the power grid by 2013.’
PAK TALIBAN WANTS ABDUL QADER ‘NUCLEAR’ KHAN IN TALKS WITH GOVT
The Pakistani Taliban may include disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan and federal minster Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a list of persons who could act as guarantors for possible peace talks with the government, according to a media report on Tuesday.
Khan had been informed about the stance of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and he ‘had showed his willingness to play his role to bring peace back to the country’, sources close to the Taliban were quoted as saying by The Frontier Post daily.
Fahim, a top leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party and the Commerce Minister, was in the Taliban’s ‘good books’ and it was likely that he would be included in the list of the guarantors, the report said.
The Taliban has formed a six-member committee to deal with the grand jirga that has been formed at the initiative of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for peace talks. Unnamed members of the grand jirga too said Khan and Fahim could be included in the list of guarantors. The Taliban had originally named PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman as possible guarantor for the peace talks.
‘We have serious concerns, if this project actually goes forward, that the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered. We’ve been straight up with the Pakistanis about these concerns. As I said at some length last week, we are also working very closely bilaterally to support alternative projects to provide Pakistan with the energy that it needs,’ State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.
‘We’ve heard this pipeline announced about 10 or 15 times before in the past. So we have to see what actually happens. If this project actually goes forward, we have serious concerns that sanctions would be triggered,’ she said in response to a question.
‘What the legislation calls for is for our partner countries to be making a concerted effort to reduce their dependence on Iranian oil over time so we are able to waive sanctions as we see reductions being made,’ she added.
‘In the case of the European Union, they’re now at zero. In the case of Japan, they’ve been making a steady decline, as have other countries that we have waived sanctions on. This pipeline project, if it actually goes forward would take Pakistan in the wrong direction right at a time that we're trying to work with Pakistan on better, more reliable ways to meet its energy needs,’ Nuland said.
‘The US’, she said, ‘is helping Pakistan address its energy needs. We are supporting large-scale energy projects in Pakistan that will add some 900 megawatts to the power grid by 2013.’
PAK TALIBAN WANTS ABDUL QADER ‘NUCLEAR’ KHAN IN TALKS WITH GOVT
The Pakistani Taliban may include disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan and federal minster Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a list of persons who could act as guarantors for possible peace talks with the government, according to a media report on Tuesday.
Khan had been informed about the stance of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and he ‘had showed his willingness to play his role to bring peace back to the country’, sources close to the Taliban were quoted as saying by The Frontier Post daily.
Fahim, a top leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party and the Commerce Minister, was in the Taliban’s ‘good books’ and it was likely that he would be included in the list of the guarantors, the report said.
The Taliban has formed a six-member committee to deal with the grand jirga that has been formed at the initiative of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for peace talks. Unnamed members of the grand jirga too said Khan and Fahim could be included in the list of guarantors. The Taliban had originally named PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman as possible guarantor for the peace talks.
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