Pakistan on Friday hit out at the US over warnings from Washington regarding its mushrooming economic ties with Iran.
Islamabad has pledged to complete the long-delayed Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project, which the US says could result in the imposition of harsh economic sanctions on the South Asian Islamic state.
However, Pakistan has made repeated statements in favor of the project in recent days, especially after the three-day visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this week.
Highlighting Islamabad's crude and gas requirements, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch underlined that the energy trade pact agreement between Iran and Pakistan was crucial for securing the latter's energy needs.
Regarding the American threats of sanctions, Baloch stated that controlling trade has transformed into a "political" issue now.
"We think that controlling export has become political," she said during a media briefing in Islamabad.
This is the second time in as many days that Pakistan has ignored the American ultimatum of not doing business with Iran.
On Thursday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that his country was committed to completing the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project that has been delayed for over a decade.
"The government will find a way to complete the Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project. There is instability in the region and the intervention of big powers has increased," Asif told Pakistani media outlet Geo TV in an interview.
Earlier, a US State Department spokesman had stressed that "business deals with Iran" carried "potential risk of sanctions."
"We advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions. But ultimately, govt of Pakistan can speak to their own foreign policy pursuits," Vedant Patel, the US State Department spokesman, said during a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.