Pipeliners

13.12.2005 MosNews - Iran supports Russia's participation in an ambitious multi-billion-dollar plan to supply Iranian natural gas to India and Pakistan, the country's Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the France Press agency on Tuesday, Dec. 13. "The issue has been brought up. Russia is a powerful country with advanced technology. If the Indians and Pakistanis agree, and I don't think they would have serious opposition, these countries can cooperate and go ahead with the project," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. In June, India signed a deal worth $22 billion which foresees Tehran supplying 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually over a 25-year period from 2009 and also a memorandum of cooperation on the construction of a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan. The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) link is expected to cost more than $7 billion. As MosNews has reported on previous occasions, Russia has voiced its interest in the project and the idea was supported by both India and Pakisan. The country is already involved in an $800 million deal to build Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr.