Gas pipeline to reach border next year: Iran

(8 hours ago) TodayA handout picture released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (R) meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran on July 16, 2011. – Photo by AFP

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Tehran was hopeful of completing its section of the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline by the end of next year.

“Construction of the pipeline to export Iranian gas to Pakistan is under way, and we hope it will reach the frontier by the end of 2012,” he said of the multi-billion-dollar project after a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.

President Zardari, who arrived in Tehran on a day-long visit, held two rounds of talks with President Ahmadinejad — first delegation-level talks and then a one-on-one meeting.

The two leaders also reviewed progress on a proposal for the transmission of electricity from Iran to Balochistan.