Iran pipeline work to begin March 11
PAKISTAN: An Iranian-Pakistani consortium will start work next week
on a much delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Pakistan to Iran that
has aroused strong US opposition, Pakistani officials said Friday.
The date was announced after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari
held talks in Tehran with Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who urged Islamabad to press
ahead with the project.
“The groundbreaking is going to be performed on March 11 on the
Pakistani side of border and we hope that the presidents of the two
countries will be present on the occasion,” a senior Pakistani official
told AFP, requesting anonymity.
He said the ceremony would mark the start of work by an
Iranian-Pakistani consortium on the 780-kilometre (485-mile) pipeline
earmarked on the Pakistani side of the border, which is said to cost
some $1.5 billion.
A second Pakistani official also confirmed March 11 as the start
date. The pipeline on the Iranian side has almost been completed.
Islamabad has said it will pursue the gas pipeline project
regardless, calling it vital towards overcome debilitating blackouts and
suffocated industry.
AFP |