Iran Official Says Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline May be Annulled

Iran may give up on the multibillion dollar Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline, country’s top oil ministry official announced Wednesday, reported Fars News Agency.

"The contract for supplying gas to Pakistan is likely to be annuled," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters on the sidelines of a gas forum in Tehran Wednesday.

According to Fars News, Zanganeh did not provide any details.

The pipeline is almost complete on the Iranian side long ago, but the Pakistani side, which has long been under the United States' heavy pressures to give up the project, has been short of financing.

Yet, earlier this week Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry once again reiterated that Islamabad is resolved to pursue expedition of the pipeline project, Fars News Agency said.

Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction of the border part of the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project in March.

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