Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made the remarks in a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.
People in Pakistan cannot tolerate the imposition of further high prices for electricity and gas, he said while censuring the government for its ineffective strategies to solve the energy problems.
Iran’s energy resources can help provide Pakistan with 25% of its energy needs, he said, urging the Pakistani government to not further delay the completion of the gas project with Iran.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch announced in May that the “Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline is included in the priority of Pakistan.”
In February, Islamabad approved the construction of an 80-kilometer section of the pipeline to avoid having to pay Iran some $18 billion in penalties for years of delays.
The United States has threatened Pakistan with sanctions if it goes ahead with a plan to build the pipeline to import gas from Iran.
“He did not agree with the notion that Pakistan was under pressure from the United States that it should not go ahead with the gas pipeline project with Iran,” Naeemur Rehman was quoted by Pakistan’s The News International as saying.
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