India quits Iran gas pipeline deal, says Pakistani diplomat

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With India going slow on the tri-nation gas pipeline, Iranian ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh Tuesday said China is interested in the proposed multi-billion project but left the door open for New Delhi to rejoin the peace pipeline. The Iranian envoy, however, remained quiet on whether Iran is holding talks with China over the tri-nation pipeline involving Iran, India and Pakistan.

September 11th, 2009 LONDON - Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora has denied reports that India has quit plans to build a gas pipeline with Iran and Pakistan. No, it's not off, Deora told journalists here Thursday.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Hours after disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan claimed that Pakistan had helped Iran acquire the nuclear technology with the aim to jointly emerge as a 'strong bloc' in the region, a Pakistani diplomat has out rightly rejected Khan's claims. Spokesman of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, Nadeem Kiyani, said Khan's statement has no 'official status'.These are the views of a person who has been rendered ineffective, and his network has been completely shut up," The Nation quoted Kiyani, as saying.

September 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Iran will start laying the pipeline for gas supply in Pakistan next year, sources have said. The decision was made on Monday, the first day of three-day talks between officials of the two countries.

September 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, which could be extended to India, will be operationalised by 2013, officials of the two countries decided at a meeting here. Quoting officials of the petroleum ministry, Online news agency reported that the feasibility report of project and other technical matters were discussed during the meeting on Monday.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday said there was no difference between India and the US on the Iranian nuclear issue and that Washington would be consulting India on evolving global consensus on Tehran. "There is no difference between our positions.

May 29th, 2009 NICOSIA - Iran and Pakistan on Thursday signed in Tehran a deal for the supply of eight billion cubic meters of natural gas annually under an agreed price formula which has not been disclosed. Representatives of the two countries also signed an initial agreement for the construction of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, which is expected to cost more than 7.5 billion dollars and has been dubbed "The Peace Pipeline." It is expected that gas deliveries will start in three to four years.

May 26th, 2009 TEHRAN - India can still join the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, the Iranian foreign ministry said, a day after Islamabad and Tehran signed a pact on the export of Iranian gas. "Up to now, no Indian official has stated his countrys withdrawal from the project and we hope they make their decision soon, Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the representative of Iranian oil minister to the IPI talks, said Monday.

May 25th, 2009 TEHRAN - Tehran and Islamabad have signed a deal for supplying Iranian gas to Pakistan, IRNA reported. As part of the plan a pipeline will be laid between the two countries through which Iran would supply natural gas to Pakistan.

May 18th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran and Pakistan will hold the last round of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline talks in Tehran next week, the special representative of Iran's oil minister to the talks has said. 'A Pakistani delegation headed by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Asim Hussain is to arrive in Tehran May 23 to finalise the Peace Pipeline deal based on the new price formula,' Hojjatollah Ghanimifard was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

April 23rd, 2009 Iran says pipeline agreement reached with IraqTEHRAN, Iran — Iran's official news agency says Tehran has reached an agreement with Iraq to build a pipeline that will feed Iraqi crude to an Iranian refinery. The agreement marks another step in strengthening relations between two majority Shiite countries that fought a deadly eight-year war in the 1980s.

March 12th, 2009 LAHORE - President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan will purchase gas from Iran even if India pulls out of the project, adding that he would discuss this possibility with the Iranian officials. The Daily Times quoted Zardari, as saying that Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project was in the best interest of Pakistan and Iran.

March 12th, 2009 LAHORE - President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan will purchase gas from Iran even if India pulls out of the project, adding that he would discuss this possibility with the Iranian officials. The Daily Times quoted Zardari, as saying that Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project was in the best interest of Pakistan and Iran.

March 11th, 2009 TEHRAN - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran Tuesday to attend the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and discuss plans for a gas pipeline linking the two countries with India. Zardari and his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai are scheduled to have a trilateral meeting prior to the summit Wednesday on security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

January 24th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran has objected to the construction of an undersea oil pipeline linking Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan through the Caspian Sea, because it threatened the marine ecosystem, a media report said Saturday. Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs, Hossein Noqrekar-Shirazi, said the undersea pipeline for supplying Kazakh oil to Azerbaijan poses threat to the Caspian ecosystem, Press TV reported.