U.S. dislikes Iran-India gas pipeline

UPI: A proposed natural gas pipeline from Iran to India has raised the ire of the U.S. Bush administration, concerned with existing sanctions against Iran.
The $4 billion project, which could be operational by 2011, would run through India’s historic rival Pakistan, leading some in India to refer to the system a “peace-pipeline,” the Washington Times reported Tuesday. United Press International

New Delhi, India – A proposed natural gas pipeline from Iran to India has raised the ire of the U.S. Bush administration, concerned with existing sanctions against Iran.

The $4 billion project, which could be operational by 2011, would run through India’s historic rival Pakistan, leading some in India to refer to the system a “peace-pipeline,” the Washington Times reported Tuesday.

But the Bush administration has warned the deal contravenes the U.S. Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which empowers President Bush to order punitive measures against any international company that invests more than $20 million a year in Iran’s energy sector.

Those concerns will be addressed when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on her first visit to the region, meets with officials in New Delhi and Islamabad this week.

India, which now imports liquefied natural gas by ship from Qatar, approved the project last month as part of a quest to meet the fast-growing economy’s rising energy requirements.