If Islamabad fails to fulfill its obligations, Tehran plans to appeal to the International Court of Arbitration in Paris to collect the money, the officials said.
An Iranian team of technical and legal experts was previously scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on January 21 for talks to resolve the pipeline issue, but the negotiations were canceled due to recent tensions between the two countries, the news outlet reported. Now, Iranian experts are expected to arrive in Islamabad in the second week of February.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project has been facing delays since 2014. In late 2022, Iran asked Pakistan to build part of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project on its territory by February-March 2024 or be ready to pay a fine of $18 billion. Prior to this, in February 2019, Tehran sent a notice to Islamabad about the failure to lay its part of the pipeline on time and threatened to go to the arbitration court in Paris and apply penalties in the gas purchase agreement, which was signed in 2009 for a period of 25 years.
Pakistan claims that it cannot implement the project on its territory due to US sanctions imposed on Iran.
The gas purchase agreement between Iran and Pakistan was signed in accordance with French law, and the International Court of Arbitration in Paris reportedly does not recognize US sanctions.