Taking a tough stand despite increasing pressure from the United States, Iranian Consul General Hassan Darvishvand has said that the long awaited Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline is to be completed “at all costs” by the end of 2014.
Darvishvand, while addressing a seminar titled ‘Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline Project Agreement – New Era of Relationship’, said 110 million cubic feet of gas will be available to Pakistan per day under the project. This, he added, would solve much of the electricity gas shortage in the energy-starved country, reports The Express Tribune.
Darvishvand said the pipeline, originating from Iran’s Faras province, would extend over a distance of 1,100 kilometers within Iran, adding that a mere 100 kilometers worth of work is left on the Iranian side of the project. He said 780 kilometers of pipeline will be laid within Pakistan and construction work began a month ago.
Darvishvand said the cost of the project in Pakistan was around 1.5 billion dollars, out of which 500 dollars million will be provided by Iran, while the rest of the cost will be met by the host country.
The envoy said resistance from the United States and Israel had grown stronger in the past three years, showing that the two nations were “threatened by the success of the Islamic revolution”.
Source: Tehran Times
