Baku, Azerbaijan, March 28
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
A Pakistani delegation will pay a visit to Tehran to discuss expansion of gas cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, says an Iranian official.
Alireza Kameli, the head of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC), said the parties will discuss exporting Iran's gas to Pakistan at the upcoming talks, SHANA news agency reported March 28.
He added that the expansion of cooperation in gas sector will enhance the economic ties between two countries.
Kameli didn't provide further information on the details and the date of the upcoming trip.
During his recent visit to Pakistan, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran has laid a pipeline up to its border to export gas to neighboring Pakistan. He also called on Islamabad to speed up measures to complete its share on its soil to finalize the project.
However, the long-awaited project for exporting Iran's gas to Pakistan seems to face some restrictions as Islamabad appears concerned over the international sanctions on Tehran, though most of them have been lifted.
Tehran has already invested over $2 billion to construct the Iranian section of the pipeline, though it hasn't been fully completed.
Pakistan was expected to start importing Iranian gas in January 2015, but the country has yet to begin building the pipeline in its territory.
After an agreement was signed between Pakistan and China to build an LNG terminal at Pakistan's Gwadar port and to construct a 700-km pipeline from Gwadar to central regions of Pakistan in 2015, the hopes for Iranian gas deliveries to Pakistan increased.
