US cautions Pakistan on Iran pipeline
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should be wary of committing to an Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline because anticipated US sanctions on Iran could hit Pakistani companies, the US special representative to the region said on Sunday.
Richard Holbrooke told reporters that new legislation, which targets Irans energy sector, is being drafted in the US Congress and that Pakistan should wait and see.
Pakistan has an obvious, major energy problem and we are sympathetic to that, but in regards to a specific project, legislation is being prepared that may apply to the project, he said, referring to the pipeline.
We caution the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation.
Pakistan is plagued by chronic electricity shortages that have led to mass demonstrations and battered the PPP-led government.
US Senator Joseph Lieberman said last week he expected Congress to finish shortly the legislation tightening US sanctions on Iran that would include provisions affecting the supply of refined petroleum products to Tehran, and add to sanctions on its financial sector.
Lieberman, an independent, is a member of a House-Senate committee of negotiators working on final details of the bill and said it could pass by July 4.
The $7.6 billion natural gas pipeline deal, signed in March, doesnt directly deal with refined petroleum products and was hailed in both Iran and Pakistan as highly beneficial.
The US has so far been muted in its criticism of the deal, balancing its need to support Pakistan, a vital ally in the global war against Al Qaeda, with its desire to isolate Iran.
But the legislation could be comprehensive enough to have major implications for Pakistani companies, Holbrooke said. We caution Pakistan to wait and see what the legislation is.
This was Holbrookes tenth trip to Pakistan since President Barack Obama appointed him special representative to the region. His visit followed a series of working group meetings this week that are part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, which both countries say will lay the groundwork for a new relationship.
Afghanistan was on the agenda in meetings with the Pakistani leadership, Holbrooke said, including talks on a Pakistani role in talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Kabul government.
Regardless of what happened in Afghanistan, he said, the United States would remain engaged with Pakistan.
Pakistan matters in and of itself. Whatever happens in Afghanistan, the US cannot turn away from Pakistan again, he said.
We are not going to repeat the mistakes that occurred at least not on our watch in the last 20 years.