Right Line on Pipeline

The Clinton administration has decided not to oppose the construction of a pipeline that would cross 788 miles of Iranian territory as it carried natural gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey. It is the right decision, though the White House had better be prepared for an outburst of congressional anger by those who see it as violating last year’s Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which bars U.S. and foreign investments of more than $40 million in Iran’s energy development.

The chief beneficiaries of the pipeline deal will in fact be gas-poor Turkey, a sometimes shaky NATO ally whose new government Washington is eager to strengthen, and Turkmenistan, which became independent in 1991 after 110 years of control by imperial Russia and then the Soviet Union. Iran will profit only through the pipeline transit fees it will charge. Those fees hardly seem to qualify as a major investment in its energy sector.

The previous Turkish government of Necmettin Erbakan raised alarms among secularists in Turkey and in many Western capitals through his strong Islamist orientation and friendship toward Iran and Libya, both linked to international terrorism. During his tenure Erbakan struck a deal with Iran to buy $23 billion of its natural gas. The pipeline project with Turkmenistan, whose estimated gas reserves are a whopping 8 trillion cubic meters, presumably obviates that deal even as it helps Turkmenistan to diversify its markets. From the U.S. perspective all this is to the good, and congressional critics who fail to see its advantages are being shortsighted indeed.

The White House was quick to say that its decision not to oppose the pipeline signals no change in U.S. policy, which is to punish Iran economically because of its sponsorship of terrorism. That remains the right approach for now. But Washington’s efforts to isolate Iran internationally have been something less than a shining success. The United States must remain alert for signs that Tehran might be ready to modify its behavior, and it must be prepared to respond accordingly.