Daily Times

WASHINGTON –US State Departmentspokesperson Mark Toner has said that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will not yet benefit from the nuclear agreement that may ease economic sanctions on Tehran, a private TV channel reported on Monday.

On July 14, the United States and five other world powers signed a deal with Iran, which would end international economic sanctions on Tehran if it abandoned its nuclear weapons programme.

Lastweek,Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemitold a think-tank in Washington that Pakistan welcomed the deal because it would open the doors for economic cooperation with Iran, including the construction of a pipeline to bring natural gas for the South Asian nation.

Commenting on Fatemi’s statement, the State Department spokesperson said that the lifting of sanctions for commercial deals with Iran had not started yet. “We don’t consider Iran open for business yet, and there’s no new sanctions relief beyond the very limited relief under the joint plan of action that’s been in place since January 2014,” he said.

“When Iran meets its key nuclear steps and we get to implementation day, then there will be commensurate relief of nuclear-related sanctions,” Toner said. He also said that he would not offer specific opinion on various possible future economic relations or economic deals or business deals.