Iran, Pakistan to form IPI firm

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Iran and Pakistan on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting in New York agreed to create a joint company to create revenue for a gas pipeline project.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss implementation of the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline to bring resources from the South Pars gas field in Iran east.

The joint firm will generate revenue in Iran, Pakistan and the Middle East, while Iran will provide a sovereign guarantee for the company, the Pakistani Dawn said Wednesday.

India and Pakistan are facing a looming energy crisis, but pressure from Washington to avoid dealing with Iran and pricing deals have slowed progress on the proposed 1,724-mile pipeline.

Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman said the two countries also agreed to establish two bilateral committees to examine further details of the pipeline.

"The two sides made good progress," she said.

Foreign ministers from both sides plan to meet in October to discuss the way forward on the project.