Pranab Mukherjee to meet Iran President Feb 7

Tehran, Feb 6: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here this evening and is scheduled to meet President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki tomorrow to discuss the tri-nation 7 billion dollar gas pipeline project.

Mr Mukherjee will also meet Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and former President of Iran Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The visit comes against the backdrop of the US keeping a close watch on the ties between the countries.

The US has said foreign companies cannot invest more than 20 million dollars annually in Teheran's energy sector.

The visit by the Indian Minister comes a day after Pakistran President General Pervez Musharraf came here on a 24 hour visit.

Local media reports say both Islamabad and New Delhi are under acute American pressure against entering into trade deals with Iran, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

''The laying of the 2,700 km long gas pipeline to India and Pakistan is vital for both the countries, whose governments despite the demands of their peoples for continuation of the historical ties with Iran do not want the bully called the US to feel annoyed at them,'' the conservative Kayhan newspaper in an editorial said today.

The US has imposed various sanctions against Iran since 1979, following the seizure of the US embassy in Teheran on November 4 of that year. In August 1996, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was passed unanimously by the US Congress and signed into a law which requires the government to impose sanctions on foreign companies that invest more than 20 million dollar a year in Iran's energy sector.

Mr Mukherjee will leave for New Delhi tomorrow evening .

The visit by Mr Mukherjee, closely watched by the US, will be the first since New Delhi voted against the Iranian nuclear programme twice at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the past 18 months.

K Natwar Singh was the last Indian foreign minister to visit Tehran in September 2005.

The US had enacted a law last month to open the doors of global nuclear commerce with India in return for New Delhi placing 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors under international safeguards. The US also expects cooperation to isolate and dissuade Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Also, to be on the agenda will be the pricing of gas through a 7 billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India tri-nation pipeline that will facilitate the supply of Iranian gas via Pakistan to India.

The three countries are said to have agreed on a pricing formula of the Iranian gas - a subject of intense negotiations for the past few months - at a meeting in Tehran last month.

Mr Mukherjee is also expected to discuss with his counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki the security situation in Afghanistan.

The Indian Foreign Minister's trip to Tehran comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin who discussed the Iranian issue. The two countries agreed to cooperate to find 'an effective solution' to the Iranian nuclear standoff through ''political and diplomatic efforts.'' The Iranian nuclear issue will figure later this month in a meeting of Indian, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers .

''Mr Mukherjee's visit is a part of the regular process of high-level exchanges between the two countries,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

A two-day tripartite meeting between officials of India, Iran and Pakistan was held in the Iranian capital on January 24-25 to reach an agreement on pricing formula of the seven billion dollar gas pipeline project.

Iran is expected to export 90-million cubic metres of natural gas to Pakistan and another 60-million cubic metres to India per day.

UNI