Iran expecting Pakistani moves on IPI

TEHRAN, April 29 (UPI) -- Iranian authorities are expecting a delegation from Pakistan to soon hammer out the final details of a 1,724-mile gas pipeline from the South Pars field.

Iranian special envoy to the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline Hojjatollah Ghanimifard said he received a written letter from Islamabad accepting Iranian pricing terms on gas exports from Iran, the Petroenergy Information Network in Iran reports.

Pakistani energy officials told their Iranian counterparts earlier this month that Islamabad was very interested in moving ahead on plans for the long-delayed pipeline. A meeting was scheduled for April 19 but was delayed because of family matters on the Pakistani side.

Islamabad said in March, however, that it was planning to convene a steering committee to discuss an alternate natural gas line, the $7.6 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline. But last week Ashgabat was considered for an export role in the IPI pipeline.

Plans to develop the $7.4 billion pipeline have faced repeated delays on concerns over security along the Pakistani route, pricing mechanisms and poor relations between Islamabad and New Delhi. Western nations, for their part, oppose any deal that provides economic benefits to sanction-bound Iran.