In These New Times

PressTV

12th October, 2010

Unilateral sanctions against Iran by the EU threaten the Nabucco pipeline project to bring natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe, a German paper reports.

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran are all viewed as potential suppliers for the pipeline, which is expected to carry 31 billion cubic meters a year.

The project, which is expected to become operational by 2015, is to connect natural gas-rich countries in the Caspian Sea and the Middle East to Europe in a bid to reduce European dependence on Russian energy.

The German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, reported on Tuesday that the EU sanctions could prevent Iran from using its 10 percent stake in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field to invest in the project.

The current draft of sanctions forbids investment and the supply of equipment for exploration should they be destined for ventures in which Iran holds a stake, Sueddeutsche said.

The EU sanctions against Iran came in the wake a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

The US-engineered sanctions resolution, approved in June, was followed by unilateral sanctions by the US, the EU and a number of countries.