Diplomatic cable shows U.S. grumbling over Pakistan’s warmer relations with Iran http://tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=241356

A U.S. State Department official in a meeting urged Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari against accepting Iran’s offer of concessional oil for Pakistan and providing Iran with a foothold in Pakistan, a secret American diplomatic cable made available to Dawn reveals. The meeting between Richard Boucher, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia during the Bush administration, and President Zardari took place on October 18, 2008 at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad,

during which Zardari apprised the visiting official of the Iranian offer that the President “did not believe he could refuse.”“How could he go to the National Assembly and tell them Iran had offered the assistance and Pakistan had turned it down, he asked rhetorically,” the then U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson wrote in the cable dated October 22, 2008, referring to President Zardari. She added that,“Boucher reminded him of Ambassador (Hussein) Haqqani’s recent conversation with Deputy Secretary Negroponte

in which the Deputy cautioned against providing Iran with a toehold in Pakistan.” The cable illustrates how U.S. officials tried influencing Pakistan’s policy not only with regard to Iran but also indicates how and with whom Pakistan had been dealing with at the time in order to meet its energy requirements. The American concern about Iranian oil is consistent with the U.S. government’s efforts to isolate Iran both militarily and economically.

[I BEEN SAID THIS,EXPOSED THIS FOR A WHILE ALREADY,NICE TO SEE CABLES PROVING ME CORRECT...BUT ITS NOT JUST PAKISTAN EITHER,ITS ALSO INDIA AND AFGHANISTAN AS WELL..ALSO SEE... Islamabad Accelerates Work on Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9001280513 Iran, Pakistan urge enhanced trade ties http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178356.html  Senior MP Warns about US, British Plots against Tehran-Islamabad Ties http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9002181234 Washington will not succeed to undermine Iran-India ties: journalist(THE HINDU EDITOR) http://tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=240188