Iran’s Deputy FM Holds Talks with Top Pakistani Officials
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held meetings with senior Pakistani diplomats on ways to bolster bilateral ties between the two neighbors and promote cooperation in the international arena.
During a one-day trip to Islamabad on Monday, Araqchi met Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Tehmina Janjua on Iran-Pakistan bilateral relations and international cooperation.
Araqchi also held talks with senior Pakistani senator Mushahid Hussain Syed.
Speaking to reporters later, Araqchi said diplomatic talks between Iran and Pakistan have always been in progress, adding that his negotiations were focused on ways to remove the obstacles to closer cooperation between the two neighbors.
“Following the US unilateral sanctions (against Iran), new opportunities and obstacles have emerged in the relations between the two countries,” Araqchi said.
Pointing to centuries of peaceful coexistence between Iran and Pakistan, Araqchi said the two neighbors have a record of close historical and cultural bonds and will stand together for hundreds of more years.
In a message to Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan in August, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani voiced Tehran’s readiness to enhance ties with Islamabad.
In his message, Rouhani expressed the hope that the new Pakistani leader’s tenure would mark “growing unity and convergence in the Islamic world and deepening of bonds between the two friendly neighbors.”
