The Iranian news outlet Financial Tribune reports that Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy for development and engineering affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, said that Iran is in talks with Russia to discuss a conceptual design to build an underwater gas pipeline along the bottom of the Persian Gulf.
The sides are reviewing the most economically viable plan to lay the pipeline.
According to Manouchehri, the four countries have reached an agreement to complete the project and new memorandums of understanding designed to determine sources of funding and pipeline routes will be signed soon.
In late September the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Russia and Pakistan.
Route www.vedomosti.ru
The information agency RIA Novosti reported that the document envisages providing comprehensive assistance to build the submarine gas pipeline. The Memorandum also defines authorized organizations which will provide support to the project, including designing a feasibility study defining the resource base, the pipeline configuration and route.
Let us recall that Turkmenistan is trying to lobby the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, alternative to Iran-Pakistan-India, and even completed works on its side of the pipeline. However, the construction works on the territories of other project participants have not been launched yet.
In April 2018 a group of Taliban who surrendered to the Afghanistan authorities said that they were directed and armed by Iran to disrupt the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline.
Iran rejected the Taliban’s accusations;
In August 2018 Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister said he was skeptical about the successful implementation of TAPI and made an announcement on resuming the construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline;
On 7 September 2018 President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov called for expediting the TAPI project and reprimanded Deputy Prime Minister overseeing fuel and gas complex and CEOs of “Turkmenneft” and “Turkmengas”;
Addressing the UN General Assembly on 29 September 2018 the President of Turkmenistan called on the international community to assist Afghanistan with building the TAPI gas pipeline.