US Has Concerns on Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline

Two days after President Zardari skipped his Tehran visit to finalise Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, the US envoy to Islamabad says his country has deep concerns on the project, the Nation has reported.

“We do have concerns about Iran’s potential development as a nuclear power and that we are not alone in that regard and that this is the strongly held consensus view of the international community,” said US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson on Monday.

Olson said that his country was ready to cooperate with Pakistan to help in the field of energy. The US recently agreed to finance an international consultancy to help Pakistan procure LNG to get over its energy shortages. 

Cancellation of Zardari’s visit, political observers believe, was the result of US pressure on Pakistan for not going ahead with concluding such a lucrative deal for Iran.