| Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline | |
| Type: | Natural gas |
| Country: | Iran, Iraq, Syria |
| Length Km: | 5,600 |
| Length Mi: | 3,480 |
| Discharge: | 110 million cubic metres of natural gas per day |
| Diameter In: | 56 |
| Direction: | east–west |
| Start: | Asaluyeh, Iran |
| Through: | Damascus, Syria |
The Iran–Iraq–Syria pipeline (called the Friendship Pipeline by the governments involved and the Islamic gas pipeline by some Western sources[1]) is a proposed natural gas pipeline running from the Iranian South Pars/North Dome Gas-Condensate field towards Europe via Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to supply European customers as well as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.[2] The pipeline was planned to be 5600km (3,500miles) long and have a diameter of 142cm (56inches).[2] A previous proposal, known as the Persian Pipeline, had seen a route from Iran's South Pars to Europe via Turkey; it was apparently abandoned after the Swiss energy company Elektrizitätsgesellschaft Laufenburg halted its contract with Iran in October 2010 in the face of pressure over U.S. sanctions against Iran.[3] [4]
Iraq signed an agreement with Iran in June 2013 to receive natural gas to fuel Iraqi power plants in Baghdad and Diyala. The contract covers 1.4abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit per day over 10 years. Iran's plans to export 176abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit of gas per day at standard conditions to Iraq by 2015.[5]
In July 2011 Iran, Iraq and Syria said they planned to sign a contract potentially worth around $6bn to construct a pipeline running from South Pars towards Europe, via these countries and Lebanon and then under the Mediterranean to a European country, with a refinery and related infrastructure in Damascus.[2] [6] [7] [8] In November 2012 the United States dismissed reports that construction had begun on the pipeline, saying that this had been claimed repeatedly and that "it never seems to materialize."[9] A framework agreement was to be signed in early 2013, with costs now estimated at $10bn;[10] construction plans were delayed by the Syrian civil war.[11] In December 2012 the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies said that the project "remains doubtful. It is not clear how such a project will be financed given that both Iran and Syria are subject to strict financial sanctions."[12] In July 2015, Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) and Pasargad Energy Development Company signed a BOT (build-operate-transfer) contract under which the project owner will provide 25% of finance and National Development Fund of Iran the rest for the construction of IGAT-6.
The pipeline would be a competitor to the Nabucco pipeline from Azerbaijan to Europe.[2] It is also an alternative to the Qatar–Turkey pipeline which had been proposed by Qatar to run from Qatar to Europe via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey.[13] Syria's rationale for rejecting the Qatar proposal was said to be "to protect the interests of [its] Russian ally, which is Europe's top supplier of natural gas."[13]