US warns of sanctions risk as Pakistan inks deals with Iran
- In Reports
- 10:37 PM, Apr 24, 2024
- Myind Staff
The United States has warned Pakistan about potential sanctions risk after the Islamabad government signed security and economic agreements with Iran during President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to the South Asian nation.
Emphasising the US imposing sanctions on suppliers to Pakistan's Ballistic Missile Program, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said "We're going to continue to disrupt and take actions against proliferation networks and concerning weapons of mass destruction procurement activities wherever they may occur...Just let me say, broadly, we advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions. But ultimately, the government of Pakistan can speak to their own foreign policy pursuits."
Responding to a question on the reason behind these sanctions, Patel while addressing the presser, said, "The sanctions were made because these were entities that were proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and the means of their delivery."
He said that these entities were based in China and Belarus.
"These were entities based in the PRC in Belarus and that we have witnessed to have supplied equipment and other items to Pakistan's ballistic missile program...," he added.
Moreover, emphasising President Raisi's visit to Pakistan and the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) inked between the two nations, Patel cautioned against the potential sanctions risk for anyone contemplating business agreements with Iran.
Following President Raisi's three-day visit to Pakistan and the signing of eight bilateral agreements between the two nations, the spokesperson hinted at the potential jeopardy these relations could face due to sanctions, owing to Iran's position in the international community.
Pakistan has been seeking to revive a longstanding project to construct a gas pipeline from Iran, which has been stalled for decades due to the threat of sanctions from the US. Last month, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu affirmed during a congressional hearing that the Biden administration intends to maintain all sanctions pertaining to Iran when questioned about the Pakistan-Iran pipeline.
Pakistan plans to request for a sanctions waiver on the pipeline. In a joint statement on Wednesday released after Raisi left Pakistan, both countries agreed on the “importance of cooperation in the energy domain,” including the gas pipeline project.
Earlier in the day, Iran and Pakistan inked eight memoranda of understanding for collaboration in a range of areas. PM Shehbaz and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi witnessed the MoU signing ceremony.
The accords included cooperation in veterinary and animal health, judicial support in civil cases, and security matters.
Raisi said in a news conference on Monday that Pakistan and Iran needed to boost bilateral trade to about $10 billion in the next three to four years.
This week, Iran and Pakistan reached an agreement to prohibit terrorist groups from operating on each other's territory, as stated by Pakistan's Interior Ministry in a separate announcement. President Raisi, marking the first visit by an Iranian president to Islamabad in eight years, concluded his visit on Wednesday.
Image source: Reuters
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