Striking down the requests of the governments of India and Pakistan, Iran has made it clear that the country will not sell its gas at a knock-down rate.
"The price suggested by India and Pakistan is almost half of the price we offered," said the deputy oil minister Mohammad-Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian on the state radio. "If the two governments intend to subsidise their domestic gas, there is no reason for Iran to pay this subsidy," he added. The country had recently made it clear that the tripartite peace pipeline agreement -- which includes the Iran-Pakistan-India gas project and envisages a pipeline about 2,600 km long to help meet South Asia's growing energy demand -- is not an absolute agreement for Iran. If the nuclear issue is resolved, other countries would pay better prices, said Nejad-Hosseinian to news agency Shana.