Uskowi on Iran - TAPI Pipeline Will Link Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
Iran’s popular news website Tabnak reported on Saturday that Pakistan has decided not to join the “Peace Pipeline” project, linking Iran’s southern gas fields to Pakistan’s national pipeline system. Pakistan has instead will stay with the proposed TAPI pipeline, importing gas from Turkmenistan via Afghan territory.
The proposed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline was originally called IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipeline. India withdrew from the project late last year and the name changed to Peace Pipeline. Iran has already constructed the Asalouyeh-Iranshahr portion of the pipeline, inside Iran, and the construction of the pipeline to the Pakistani border is scheduled to be completed later this year. Now with the Pakistani withdrawal, the pipeline will become an all-Iranian variety.
The TAPI pipeline will link Turkmen gas fields to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The final agreement among the four countries was signed in August.
Tabnak quotes Pakistani officials as saying that the US pressure on the country to withdraw from the Iranian proposed project was the main reason for the withdrawal.
