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Iran, India and Pakistan to sign gas pipeline agreement in July
28/5/2007 15:52

Iran, Pakistan and India are striving to sign an agreement in July to export natural gas from Iran to the two states, the official IRNA news agency reported yesterday.
Iran's Oil Minister Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh evaluated the views of all sides of the so-called Peace Pipeline Agreement as positive, adding that US sanctions did not have any effect on the trend of the agreement.
The final date set by the three sides for achieving a result on agreement is July 30 and all sides will make their best efforts to prevent any delay, he said.
According to the IRNA report, although India and Pakistan, the former in particular, are under US pressures to suspend talks, the states are seriously pursuing talks and trying their best to achieve a mutual understanding on the cost of gas transfer from Iran.
The new round of expert talks will be held in Tehran next Tuesday and Wednesday on the details of the agreement.
The seven-billion IPI gas project envisages a 2,670 km pipeline, covering 1,115 km in Iran, 705 km in Pakistan and 850 km in India, and it would help to transport Iran's gas to meet India and Pakistan's increasing energy requirement.
Iran, Pakistan and Iran have held a lot of talks on the project, but the United States has voiced its opposition to the project, reflecting concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.



Xinhua