Iran | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Iran on Sunday agreed on connecting the Silk Road and Gwadar to Chabahar Projects for enhancing the regional economic and trade integration. Iranian Minister for Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh, who accompanied the Iranian President on an official visit to Pakistan, participated in a joint session held with Pakistan’s Federal Ministers for […]

President Asif Ali Zardari hosted Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian at the Presidency on Sunday, where they had a meeting during the latter’s two-day visit to Pakistan. Pakistan and Iran share close ties and have signed multiple agreements across sectors such as energy and trade. According to a statement from the Presidency, both sides “reaffirmed their commitment to further broaden bilateral cooperation in diverse fields” and “emphasised the importance of enhancing bilateral ties in wide-ranging and mutually beneficial areas”. President Zardari was quoted as saying that Pakistan and Iran enjoy brotherly relations rooted in shared religion, culture and mutual respect. “The two leaders exchanged views on major regional and international developments and stressed the need for coordinated diplomatic efforts to prevent the escalation of conflicts and to promote peace, security, and stability in the region,” the statement added. The president appreciated Iran’s positions on regional issues and acknowledged th...

Pakistan and Iran have set a target of boosting their bilateral trade to ten billion dollars at the earliest.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Iran on Saturday reaffirmed commitment to strengthen bilateral ties and promote peace and stability in the region.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian landed in Islamabad on Saturday for a two-day visit, eyeing to reaffirm his commitment to elevate annual bilateral trade with Pakistan. Pakistan has recently expressed solidarity and a desire for cooperation with Iran, which experts say is vital to securing shared interests in a shifting geopolitical environment. Pezeshkian is paying a two-day official visit to Pakistan over the weekend, making it his first trip to Islamabad in his current role, the Foreign Office said. Ahead of his trip, Pakistan yesterday pledged to help defuse tensions between Iran and the United States. Dr Pezeshkian arrived at Nur Khan Air Base, where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar received him. PM Shehbaz said he was honoured to welcome the Iranian president and looked forward to “substantive engagements during this important visit that will pave the way forward for stronger Pakistan-Iran ties”. Iran’s Foreign Minister Ab...

ISLAMABAD: Amid a deadlock in negotiations over the government’s decision to ban land travel to Iran for pilgrims during Arbaeen — the chehlum of Imam Husain — the Maritime Mini­stry is planning to launch a ferry service to facilitate travel of Zaireen (pilgrims) to Iran and Iraq. However, the detailed road map for the service is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks. On Friday, Minister for Mari­time Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry called for the swift launch of Pakistan’s first ferry service, stressing the need for immediate reforms to licensing procedures and financial facilitation for operators. These reforms aim to ensure affordable sea travel, support pilgrims and boost maritime connectivity. In a meeting with Shipping and Ports Director General Alia Shahid, the minister highlighted the benefits of sea travel, pointing out that ferry services could offer a reliable and cost-efficient travel option for Zaireen heading to Iran and Iraq. “Beyond tourism and business, this service can greatly ...

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday criticised the federal government’s move to ban Pakistani piligims from travelling to Iran and Iraq by road. Pilgrims visit Iraq to attend the chehlum commemoration — also known as Arbaeen (40 in Arabic) — to mark the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). A day earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that zaireen (pilgrims) will be barred from travelling by road to Iran and Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage due to public and national security. PPP leader Hassan Murtaza issued a statement today, saying: “The federal and provincial governments should ensure the safety of pilgrims with the help of security agencies.” The state was responsible for the security of travellers, he added. He criticised the ban, stating that it will severely affect the common man. “Why can’t a common man, who pays taxes to the state, travel by land?” he said. The PPP leader said that pilgrimages were being removed from the ...

ISLAMABAD - The government has decided that pilgrims will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year – a difficult decision but taken in the interest of public safety and national security.

Pakistani pilgrims will be barred from travelling by road to Iran and Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage due to public and national security, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Sunday. Pilgrims visit Iraq to attend the chehlum commemoration — also known as Arbaeen (40 in Arabic) — to mark the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “After extensive consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [the] Balochistan Government, and security agencies, it has been decided that zaireen (pilgrims) will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year,” Naqvi said on X. He added that the “difficult decision was taken in the interest of public safety and national security”. However, the pilgrims will be able to travel by air, the minister noted. Naqvi stressed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to “arrange maximum flights to facilitate their pilgrimage in the coming days”. Naqvi’s statement came after ...

Iran executed two members of the outlawed Mujahideen-e-Khalq opposition group for targeting civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan reported on Sunday. Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, “operational elements” of the MEK, were sentenced to death in a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, Mizan said. “The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had set up a team house in Tehran, where they built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group’s goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres, and also carried out propaganda and information-gathering activities in support of the MEK,” the report said. The defendants were indicted with “moharebeh”, an Islamic term meaning waging war against God, destroying public property and “membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security”. Semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday that Ehsani-...

At least six people were killed and 22 were injured in an armed attack by the Jaish al-Adl group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday, state media reported. Three attackers were killed, according to the report by IRNA. Jaish al-Adl confirmed the deaths of its three members in the clashes with security forces in Zahedan, the capital of the far southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. A toddler and a 60-year-old woman were among those killed, as well as three soldiers and law enforcement personnel assigned to the courthouse, the head of the province’s judiciary told IRNA. He did not identify the sixth dead person. He said the attackers wore explosive vests and carried grenades. It was not clear if they had detonated them. Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram account, said it had killed at least 30 members of the judiciary and security forces. It said it targeted judges and court personnel, whom it accused o...

Iran said it would continue nuclear talks with European powers after “serious, frank, and detailed” conversations on Friday, the first such face-to-face meeting since Israel and the United States bombed Iran last month. Before the meeting in Istanbul, Iran also pushed back on suggestions of extending the United Nations resolution that ratifies a 2015 deal, nearing expiry, that was designed to curb its nuclear programme. Delegations from the European Union and so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany met Iranian counterparts for about four hours at Iran’s consulate for talks that the UN nuclear watchdog said could provide an opening to resume inspections in Iran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said afterwards that both sides had presented specific ideas on sanctions relief and the nuclear issue. “While seriously criticising their stances regarding the recent war of aggression against our people, we explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism,” h...

Iranian forces on Wednesday warned a US destroyer to stay out of waters claimed by Tehran, state television reported, an interaction a US defence official said was “safe and professional” and did not affect the ship’s mission. The exchange in the Gulf of Oman between the two rivals comes a month after the United States […]

ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Cultural Counsellor Majid Meshki visited the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) on Tuesday to discuss fostering Pakistan-Iran literary cooperation. Majid Meshki engaged in in-depth discussions with PAL Chairperson Dr. Najeeba Arif and Director General Sultan Nasir to consider options for intensifying the literary aspect and cultural association between the two nations. During the […]

Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear programme, including uranium enrichment, despite “severe” damage to its facilities after US strikes last month, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday. For now, enrichment “is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe”, Araghchi told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier”. “But obviously we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists,” he continued, calling it a source of “national pride”. He stressed that any future nuclear deal would have to contain the right to enrichment. When asked whether any enriched uranium had been saved from the strikes, Araghchi said he had “no detailed information”, but that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation is “trying to evaluate what has exactly happened to our nuclear material, to our enriched material”. Washington bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran on June 22 to support Israel’s 12-day military offensive, including the Fordow underground uranium enrichment site located south o...

ISLAMABAD - Iran’s Interior Minister Seyyed Eskandar Momeni on Monday held a telephonic conversation with Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, during which they discussed the upcoming visit of Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian to Pakistan on July 26.

Tehran on Monday accused Britain, France and Germany of failing to respect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after they threatened to reimpose sanctions over its atomic programme. The 2015 deal, reached between Iran and the UN Security Council’s permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. But it unravelled when the United States in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as president, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed sweeping sanctions. The Europeans had pledged continued support for the deal, but the mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never materialised effectively, and many Western firms were forced to exit Iran, which has since faced a deepening economic crisis. “The European parties have been at fault and negligent in implementing” the nuclear agreement, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is the only ...

Iran has replaced air defences damaged during last month’s conflict with Israel, Iran’s Defah Press news agency reported on Sunday quoting the regular army’s deputy for operations, Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi. During the conflict in June, Israel’s air force dominated Iran’s airspace and dealt a heavy blow to the country’s air defences while Iranian armed forces launched successive barrages of missiles and drones on Israeli territory, successfully hitting strategic targets. “The Zionist enemy sought to destroy Iran’s defence capabilities, and some of our defence systems were damaged in this war; But with the efforts of my comrades, the damaged systems were replaced and deployed in predetermined locations,” Mousavi said. Admiral Mousavi added that Israel was not able to achieve its objectives and that the United States and NATO helped Tel-Aviv in the war. Prior to the war, Iran had its own domestically-made long-range air defence system Bavar-373 in addition to the Russian-made S-300 system. The report by Defa...

An undefeated Pakistan team on Saturday beat Iran 3-2 in the Asian Men’s U-16 Volleyball Championship final to win the tournament that was being held in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. After being 0-2 down earlier in the match, Pakistan made an incredible comeback by winning three straight sets to win the final 3-2. The scores across the five sets were 22-25, 21-25, 30-28, 25-21, 15-10. Junaid was the top scorer for Pakistan with 28 points joined by Faizan in second place with 22 points. Talha and Muhammad Irfan chipped in with nine and eight points each. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the team on their win in a post on X. Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also hailed the victory and commended the Green Shirts on their win. “Proud moment for us all as U-16 volleyball team has won the Asian Championship, defeating defending champions Iran in the final. A moment of pride and inspiration for the entire nation. Well done, champs!”, the interior minister said in a post on X. On Friday, Pakistan beat Ind...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his European counterparts on Friday that they have no grounds for reactivating UN sanctions after they threatened to do so in the coming months unless there is progress in nuclear talks. “If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the ‘snap-back’ for which they (have) absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds,” Araghchi said on X. He added that “any new round of talks is only possible when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial nuclear deal.” The remarks came after Araghchi held a conference call with his British, French and German counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The European diplomats told Araghchi of “their determination to use the ‘snapback’ mechanism — which allows for the reimposition of all international sanctions against Iran — in the absence of concrete progress” towards a new deal on Iran’s nuclear programme “by...