Pakistan and Iran want to take historical relations to new heights: FM

TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that energy issues were also discussed with Iran.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told a press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdollahian in Tehran that Pakistan was committed to strengthening its cooperation with Iran in the energy sector by importing additional electricity.

Bilawal Bhutto said that he discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan with the Iranian foreign minister and agreed that Afghans should be helped at this critical juncture and that billions of dollars frozen in Afghanistan should be returned to them.

The foreign minister said that he was glad that Pakistan and Iran had come close to resolving one of the major obstacles to the expansion of bilateral trade by activating the Barter Trade Mechanism and formalizing cross-border exchanges. “Trade will be boosted through new border crossings and border markets. Such initiatives are part of our joint commitment to provide opportunities for better economic and trade activities that will benefit the people of Iran and Pakistan and help improve the lives and well-being of people on the border,” he said.

He expressed support for Tehran in negotiating a nuclear deal with international organizations, saying, “I look forward to the day when these talks reach a conclusion and alleviate the suffering of the Iranian people.” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also briefed Abdollahian on the human rights situation in occupied Kashmir and thanked the Iranian leadership for its continued support on the Kashmir issue.

Addressing the press conference, the Iranian Foreign Minister said, “I have a wonderful gift for the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, I have a photo album of Benazir Bhutto’s visit to Mashhad and Imam Reza’s visit.” He added, “I will present this album to them as a gift on the first occasion.”

He said that he was happy to host the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. “The deep ties between Iran and Pakistan, two great countries of the Islamic world, have been promising all these years and we have established relations based on the development of cooperation in the new government,” Abdollahian said.

The Iranian Foreign Minister said that the issue that has been going on for a long time between the two countries is the issue of increasing gas exports from Iran to Pakistan and exports to that country, “We talked about it,” he said by adding, “Despite the US unilateral sanctions, there are mechanisms in place in the international arena that we hope will enable us to continue to cooperate in the best possible way.”

“Today we talked about bilateral relations and cooperation and the promotion of local trade and provincial co-operation, adopting a common vision and political positions between the border markets and Tehran and Islamabad,” he said. We talked about cultural-tourism cooperation in the international arena, as well as economic and trade issues,” he further added.

“We are against the war in Ukraine and we want to work between Iran, Russia, and Ukraine to resolve this crisis,” he said, referring to regional issues, including Afghanistan and Palestine. He said that Iran insists on the formation of a unified Palestinian state in Palestine and believes that Islamic states must unite against the Zionist state which is taking threatening and hostile measures against the Islamic world.

“We hope that the roots of the crisis in Afghanistan will dry up with the establishment of a comprehensive government,” he said. The solution for Afghanistan is the establishment of a comprehensive government and we hope that Afghanistan will move towards peace and tranquility as soon as possible.

The Islamic Republic of Iran supports a ceasefire in Yemen, we call for a complete end to the siege of Yemen and we support the Yemeni Intra-Dialogue talks.