Iran on Tuesday denied existence of any contract for export of liquefied natural gas to India while stating that it cannot wait endlessly for New Delhi to join the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.

"It (LNG contract) was not agreed. It was not finalized between the two countries (in June 2005)," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in New Delhi.

On June 13, 2005, a consortium of Indian Oil [Get Quote], GAIL and Bharat Petroleum had signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement for import of 5 million tons of LNG for 25 years with National Iranian Gas Export Co, which India maintains is legally binding.

Iran has insisted that the contract had to be ratified by the National Iranian Oil Co, the parent firm of NIGEC. NIOC has refused to ratify the contract unless the gas price is raised.

"It (the LNG contract) is not a matter of agreement between the two countries," Hosseini said.

On Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, he said Tehran has offers for exporting gas to countries like China and wanted New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve their differences fast. "We don't have lot of time."

Pakistan's demand for a transit fee for allowing passage of Iranian gas to India on top of transportation charges for wheeling the fuel through a 1,035-km pipeline segment in that country had put a pause on negotiations on the IPI pipeline, with New Delhi boycotting trilateral meetings on the issue since July 2007.