The Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan inaugurated on Monday the construction phase of a $7.5 gas pipeline project.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan inaugurated on Monday the construction phase of a $7.5 gas pipeline project.

The project was launched at a ceremony on the Iran-Pakistan border attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, who have previously highlighted that a pipeline would guarantee the security of both countries as well as the region.

According to Fars news agency, the two presidents reassured, during their meeting at the international airport of the border region of Chabahar on Monday, that the gas pipeline will further strengthen the economic, political and security relations between Tehran and Islamabad and other regional states.

During the inauguration, Ahmadinejad and Zardari said in a joint statement that the “completion of the pipeline is in the interests of peace, security and progress of the two countries ... it will also consolidate the economic, political and security ties of the two nations.”

For his part, Ahmadinejad hailed the fact that work on the new section of pipeline was going ahead despite US sanctions against Iran's oil and gas sector.

"This gas pipeline is a sign of show of resistance against domination," the Iranian president said, adding that “there are some nations who are against the progress of people, and so they are using the nuclear issue as a pretext to hinder the progress of the nations."