Pakistan not pulling out of Iran deal

Pakistan has reiterated that Islamabad will not back out of a 7.6-billion dollar deal with Iran, stressing that the country has no obligations to follow US decisions.

“We are not bound to implement US decisions,” Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said during a working lunch with lawmakers on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Gilani made the remarks one day after reports said he had promised to respect a pending US legislation expected to tighten Washington’s unilateral restrictions against Iran.

“We will follow if the UN imposes these sanctions,” the premier stressed, adding that he was seeking to clarify his earlier statements and “get it right.”

On June 12, the energy-starved South Asian country penned a gas pipeline deal with neighboring Iran, under which Tehran agrees to deliver 21.2 million cubic meters (750 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day to Pakistan from 2014.

US President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said Monday he had warned Pakistan that the expected sanctions could be “comprehensive” and target any countries or firms involved in the deal.

The White House, seeking to increase pressure on Tehran, imposed its first set of unilateral sanctions immediately after the UN Security Council adopted a fourth round of punitive measure against Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran firmly rejects Western allegations that its nuclear program harbors a secret military drive and says it aims to employ the peaceful aspects of the technology for civilian electricity generation and medical research.