Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline: Pakistan’s Breach of Diplomatic Trust and Commitment

Pakistan’s handling of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project stands as one of the most shameful displays of diplomatic cowardice in recent history. For 25 years, Pakistan has betrayed Iran’s trust, wasted opportunities, and demonstrated its complete inability to act as a sovereign nation. This monumental failure exposes not just Pakistan’s weak governance but its subservience to Western interests at the cost of its own people’s welfare. The facts are damning. Iran has already built 900 kilometers of the 1,150-kilometer pipeline to its border, while Pakistan hasn’t laid a single meter of its required 781 kilometers.^[1] This isn’t mere incompetence. It’s a deliberate betrayal of a neighboring country that trusted Pakistan enough to invest billions in infrastructure. The contrast between Iran’s commitment and Pakistan’s dereliction couldn’t be starker.

Pakistan’s excuses are as pathetic as its performance. While claiming it cannot proceed due to U.S. sanctions, Pakistan happily spends $3.9 billion annually on expensive LNG imports from Qatar, Nigeria, and Egypt.^[2] The reality is quite different. Pakistan lacks the courage to stand up to American pressure, even when its own people suffer from severe energy shortages. This corrupt bargain with Western interests has left Pakistan’s industries crippled and its people freezing in winter. The numbers expose Pakistan’s deepening energy crisis. Daily gas consumption exceeds 6 billion cubic feet while domestic production limps along at 4 billion cubic feet. The Iranian pipeline could have delivered 750 million cubic feet of gas per day, substantially addressing this deficit.^[3] Instead, Pakistan’s industries struggle, its people face gas shortages, and its economy bleeds foreign exchange on costly LNG imports that it can ill afford.

Pakistan’s recent actions reveal its true character. Rather than fulfilling its obligations, it has hired American law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and White & Case to fight Iran’s justified $18 billion penalty claim.^[4] This is the behavior of a defaulter preparing excuses, not a responsible nation honoring its commitments. The money spent on these legal defenses could have been better used actually building the pipeline Pakistan promised to construct. Iranian officials have every right to be furious. During President Raisi’s visit in April 2024, Iranian Petroleum Minister Jawad Owji publicly called out Pakistan’s endless string of empty promises. Iran, holding the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves at 1,203 trillion cubic feet, watched as successive Pakistani governments offered the same worthless assurances year after year. The frustration in Iranian diplomatic circles is palpable, as they witness their massive investment in infrastructure standing unused at the border.

Pakistan’s February 2024 announcement to build just 80 kilometers of pipeline from the Iranian border to Gwadar is another cynical ploy.^[5] Ten months later, even this minimal commitment remains unfulfilled, buried under convenient excuses about “financial and procedural hurdles.” This pattern of announcing minor progress to avoid penalties, then failing to deliver even these modest commitments, has become Pakistan’s trademark in this project. The timeline of Pakistan’s betrayal is extensive and damning. In 2014, it begged for a 10-year extension to avoid daily penalties of $1 million. Iran granted this request in good faith, only to watch Pakistan continue its pattern of deception and delay. Now, facing international arbitration and potential penalties of $18 billion, Pakistan scrambles for legal defenses instead of honoring its word. This behavior mirrors Pakistan’s handling of other international commitments, such as the Reko Diq mining project, where it similarly tried to wriggle out of its obligations.

For Iran, this project was more than a pipeline. It represented a chance to break through Western sanctions and establish itself as a regional energy provider. Pakistan’s betrayal has not only damaged bilateral trust but has helped reinforce Iran’s isolation, exactly as American sanctions intended. The project’s failure has pushed Iran further into China’s orbit, altering regional power dynamics in ways that may ultimately hurt Pakistan’s own strategic interests. Pakistan’s leadership seems content playing the role of America’s puppet, sacrificing its energy security and regional relationships to avoid U.S. displeasure. This is not diplomacy but submission. While other nations in the region find ways to maintain their strategic autonomy, Pakistan cowers at the mere thought of American sanctions. The incoming Trump administration in January 2025 will likely make sanctions even stricter, but this doesn’t excuse 25 years of Pakistani inaction and deceit.

As Pakistan faces international arbitration, its diplomatic maneuvers expose its continued duplicity. The country seems more interested in avoiding penalties than fulfilling its obligations, proving it never intended to complete this project despite signing binding agreements. This pattern of behavior has destroyed Pakistan’s credibility as a reliable partner in international agreements and exposed its inability to make sovereign decisions in its national interest. The Iran-Pakistan pipeline reveals Pakistan’s true character. A nation that signs agreements it never intends to honor, makes promises it never plans to keep, and lacks the backbone to stand up for its own interests. The $18 billion penalty it now faces is not just compensation for Iran, it’s the price of Pakistan’s cowardice, duplicity, and failure to act as a sovereign nation. For other nations in the region, Pakistan’s humiliating performance offers clear lessons about the costs of prioritizing Western approval over regional partnerships and national interests.

^[1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/09/04/iran-pakistan-pipeline-gas-arbitration-economy-sanctions/

^[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/pakistan-defers-lng-contract-with-qatar-year-petroleum-minister-says-2024-12-04/

^[3] https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/421743/IP-gas-pipeline-A-fading-opportunity-for-Pakistan

^[4] https://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/law-firms-in-place-iran-pakistan-pipeline-claim

^[5] https://issra.pk/pub/insight/2024/Iran’s-Notice-on-The-Iran-Pakistan-Gas-Pipeline-Challenges-and-Legal-options-for-Pakistan/Insight.html

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