WASHINGTON, April 16: Pakistan will study United States laws that prohibit investment in Iranian oil infrastructure before finalizing the construction of a proposed gas pipeline from Iran, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and revenue Dr Salman Shah said here on Saturday.
Dr Shah told a briefing that besides the Iranian option Pakistan was looking at the possibility of constructing a pipeline from Turkmenistan or Qatar and importing liquid natural gas from Qatar to meet its energy needs.
“If the pipeline from Iran violates US laws, we will look at those laws,” said Dr Shah while responding to a question from the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Programme Director Robert M. Hathaway. Mr Hathaway had asked the adviser to comment on a statement by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had expressed Washington’s reservations on the proposed pipeline.
Dr Shah said that if Washington wanted Pakistan to give up the pipeline and instead go for “a more expensive option, it will be difficult for us to do so. But we will look at the relevant US law and decide.”
On June 18, 1996, the US Congress adopted the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, which prohibits individuals and companies from contributing more than $40 million to the development of Iran’s petroleum resources.
The law authorizes the US president to direct the Export-Import Bank of the US not to give approval to the issuance of any guarantee, insurance, extension of credit, or participation in the extension of credit in connection with the export of any goods or services to any individual or company that violates the restriction.
The president may order the US government not to issue any specific licence and not to grant any other specific permission or authority to export any goods or technology to a sanctioned person or company.
The US government may also prohibit any American financial institution from making loans or providing credits totalling more than $10 million in a year to any sanctioned person.
The US government may not procure, or enter into any contract for the procurement of, any goods or services from a sanctioned person.
The president may also impose sanctions to restrict imports from the individual or company that violates the law.
“According to preliminary estimates, the proposed pipeline involves an investment of $4 billion to $5 billion,” said Dr Shah while talking to Pakistani journalists. “That’s why we have to carefully study every aspect of this law before taking any decision,” he said.
Asked if Ms Rice’s statement had dampened Pakistan’s enthusiasm about the pipeline, he said it would not be right to say so but “we are looking at all possibilities.”
