Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project needs no West aid: Velayati

A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic can assist Pakistan to fully implement a mutual gas pipeline project without any technical support from the United States and Europe.
Ali Akbar Velayati, the adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, said on Friday that Iranian engineers had managed to carry out multiple gas pipeline projects across Iran.

“Pakistan can also benefit from Iran’s support and the initiatives of Iranian engineers in the construction of gas pipelines on its soil.”

The Iranian official made the remarks at a meeting with Shia and Sunni scholars in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi.

Islamabad has awarded an Iranian company a contract to build the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline for the export of 21.5 million cubic meters of Iran’s natural gas to Pakistan on a daily basis.

Iran has already built more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil and it has offered to finance and help build the 700-kilometer tranche of the pipeline on the Pakistani side.

Velayati also underscored the importance of unity among Muslims and said, “The Islamic world can defeat its enemies through unity.”

Also at the meeting, President of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami Seyyed Munawar Hassan lauded Iran’s help to Pakistan in tackling its energy crisis by providing assistance in implementation of the gas pipeline project.

Munawar Hassan said unity between Iran and Pakistan had caused concern for the imperialist forces in the region and thwarted Washington’s plots.
Source: Press TV