Iran said on Monday India had asked for more time to consider a price formula for Iranian gas to be supplied by a proposed $7 billion pipeline project that will also supply Pakistan.
The comments by Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, carried by the ministry''s web site Shana, conflict with remarks after tripartite talks last month when a senior Iranian official had said the price formula was agreed.
The three countries last met Tehran in late January to try to overcome differences over pricing the gas from Iran, which sits on the world''s second largest reserves. The group have sought help from a UK-based consultant to reach a pricing deal.
"In that round of meetings in Tehran, Iran and Pakistan reached a definite agreement on the suggested formula by the consultant, but the Indian side asked permission to give its answer within a month," Vaziri-Hamaneh said.
"Also the Indian and Pakistani sides-because the pipeline passes from Pakistani territory to India-should have some negotiations and, in this case, one month deadline has been considered," the minister added.
After the talks in January, a senior Iranian official had said an agreement on the formula was reached by those at the Tehran talks, although he had said the three delegations would take the results to their governments for discussion.
The official did not give details of the formula. President Pervez Musharraf visited Iran on Monday but state media gave few details about his talks. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrives in Iran on Tuesday and Shana said his talks would include the pipeline project.
Although it sits on gas reserves of about 940 trillion cubic feet, second to Russia, Iran has been slow to develop exports. Growing Asian economies, including India and Pakistan, are scrambling to find energy sources to feed industrial expansion.
The pipeline has been on the drawing board for years but has been held up by hostility between the South Asian nations and more recently by US opposition to Iran''s nuclear programme.
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