Although Iran and Russia both want the mainpipeline that will take Caspian oil to western markets to go through their own territory, they have come together hoping to resist American attempts to make sure it runs through neither (see article).
On February 28th and March 1st, American missiles blew up radio relay stations near Mosul in the north that transmit operational data for Iraq's main oil pipeline.
IR Your article on Caspian energy (November 28th) asserts that prospects for building a main export pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan in Turkey have rarely looked so doubtful.
Of greatest concern initially, the Keystone XL pipeline was designed to run through Nebraska's Sandhills, which lie above the Ogallala Aquifer, the main source of drinking water and irrigation for millions of people.