Iran War Breathes New Life Into Turkmenistan’s $10 Billion Pipeline Dream

At an energy forum in Ashgabat in late October, Turkmenistan made an unexpected announcement. After years of delays and speculation that the project would be canceled, the forum audience was told the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India TAPI gas pipeline had just reached "the outskirts of Herat" and would be "commissioned by the end of 2026." Depending on one's definition of "outskirts" for the northwestern Afghan city, that first claim appears to be true.

Satellite images made on November 7 show the natural gas pipeline extending from Turkmenistan's southern border to a construction zone around 22 kilometers west of Herat's industrial district. Satellite images show the progression of the TAPI pipeline to a site bottom right around 22 kilometers west of Herat's industrial district.