WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) -- It's too early in the development of a natural gas pipeline planned from Iran to Pakistan to state what action the U.S. government would take, an official said.
Iran has started work on its section of a pipeline that would stretch from the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf to Pakistan. Both sides have expressed interest in the project, though Washington has stated opposition given the potential economic benefits for Iran.
Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington recognized Pakistan was facing an energy crisis. Washington, she said, was prepared to work with Islamabad to secure other sources of energy.
"I'm not going to prejudge what might be sanctionable on a deal that is just prospective at this point and where tenders have only just gone out," she said. "Our point is to say that we think this is a bad idea and that there are other options."
Pakistan announced recently it offered Germany's ILF Consulting Engineering a $250 million contract for part of the natural gas pipeline.
Washington backs a rival project that would stretch from Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Security concerns in Afghanistan, however, weigh on that project's development.
