Pak vows to complete Iran gas project despite US sanctions threats

Pakistan will complete the gas pipeline project with Iran, Minister for Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said, adding that no external pressure would be tolerated in this regard.

Talking to a private TV channel, he said that energy policy would be changed to generate cheaper electricity, addressing the energy crisis, the Nation reports.

The United States has threatened that the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project could invoke sanctions on the country in the future.

Foreign Office spokesperson Aizaz Chaudhry had disclosed that the government had presented US Secretary of State John Kerry a 'non-paper' over the IP pipeline.

Through the non-paper Pakistan conveyed its point that the project was being undertaken to address the country's acute energy requirements.

In the past too Washington has voiced serious concerns about the pipeline project.

Earlier this year, then US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that Pakistan risked sparking US sanctions if it pursues its plans to build the 7.5 billion dollars gas pipeline, the report added.