PAPER REPORTS DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION OF IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE

Haykakan Zhamanak, Armenia
Dec 14 2006

"They are staging a show"

Our source close to the Armenian government has said that the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will not be commissioned on 1 January 2007.

It will be commissioned in mid-2007 at best. Of course, if the
commissioning means that gas will be supplied from Iran to Armenia
via this gas pipeline.

The point is that at present numerous sectors of the pipeline have
not been coupled to each other, especially where turns are present.

Incidentally, the abovementioned does not contradict information that
the opening of the pipeline will take place on 20 December [2006].

Our source says Russia has forced Armenia to stage this show to make
Georgia believe that the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is ready and at
any stage Russians can suspend the North Caucasus gas pipeline without
doing any harm to their "strategic partner" Armenia.

According to the Russian scenario, in this case Georgians will be
forced to seek reconciliation with them, or, more precisely, they
will beg for reconciliation and ask not to suspend the North Caucasus
gas pipeline.