section was agreed. On 11 March 2013, the construction work on the Pakistani section of the pipeline was inaugurated by president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According with Javad Owji, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, the pipeline in Pakistan is expected to be constructed in 22 months with the participation of Iran. On 27 May 2013, Iranian deputy minister for petroleum, A. Khaledi, in a letter to the Pakistan government expressed concern over the delay in the start of the Pakistani portion of the pipeline. He said that after a government-to-government agreement between the two countries, they were supposed to select entities for the construction of the latter part of the pipeline. Pakistan still hasn't officially nominated Tadbir Energy and local sub-contractors to begin work on the Pakistani half of the pipeline. On 12 June 2013, the newly elected prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, allayed any fears regarding the abandonment of the project and said that the Pakistani government is committed to the fulfillment of the project and targets the first flow of gas from the pipeline in December 2014. The premier also stated that his government is planning to commit to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project as well. On 28 November 2013, a 'friendly' country anonymously offers $1 billion to help fund the pipeline. On 10-November-2013, a meeting between Pakistan Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zangeneh held at the Ministry of Petroleum at Tehran. The Pakistani Officials assured their Iranian counterparts that project would continue despite "external pressure". On 25-Feb-2014, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the National Assembly that the project for the moment is off the table, he cited international sanctions as the issue, he said " In the absence of international sanctions the project can be completed within three years, but the government cannot take it any further at the moment because international sanctions against Iran are a serious issue". Pakistan will face the penalty if it failed to lay its side of pipeline till December 2014. Analysts however points at Saudi Arabia's pressure to not to carry out the project. Iran plans to abandon this pipeline project, as per April 2014 news article. During the state visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Iran in May 2014, both