Iran key protector of regional peace: Pakistan Senate speaker

Pakistan’s Senate Speaker Seyyed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari has hailed Iran’s role in safeguarding regional peace and called for the further enhancement of Tehran-Islamabad energy ties.

“Pakistan is grappling today with terrorism and faces myriads of problems in this respect; meanwhile, the Islamic Republic can play a key role in the establishment of peace in the region,” said Bukhari at a Friday meeting with Provincial Governor of Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Mahmoud Salehi in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad.

Bukhari, who is on a four-day tour to Iran, touched upon Islamabad’s energy requirements, saying, “Today, Pakistan is in dire need of energy and fuel and, if possible, we are willing to meet a portion of this need from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The senior Pakistani legislator also reaffirmed Islamabad’s resolve to receive the Islamic Republic’s natural gas through the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline.
Energy-hungry Pakistan is looking to increase its fuel imports from various sources, including Iran, to reduce power shortages that have crippled the country’s industries and shaved percentage points off its GDP growth.

The multi-billion-dollar IP gas pipeline aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 7.8 billion cubic meters per year) of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

This is while the US has stepped up efforts to lobby Pakistan to abandon not only the IP gas pipeline project, but also liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases from Iran in return for cheaper gas from US.