Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says colonial powers are opposed to the enhancement of bilateral ties between his country and neighboring Pakistan, stressing that enemies are seeking to drive a wedge between the two Muslim nations.
Raeisi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday night, where he congratulated the Pakistan Peoples Party’s co-chairperson for winning a second term as Pakistan’s president.
“The development of Iran-Pakistan relations is not agreeable to colonial powers, and they are seeking to drive a wedge between the two Muslim countries,” Raeisi said.
Cooperation in the joint fight against terrorism should be enhanced, and enemies should not be given the chance to advance their agendas and disrupt friendship between Tehran and Islamabad, the Iranian president added.
He also lauding the faith and fervor of young Muslims in thwarting various plots such as those unleashed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group,
Raeisi went on to describe the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza as “great sadness” for Muslim countries and all freedom-loving people worldwide, stressing the necessity for independent countries to join forces and exert pressure aimed at stopping the crimes of the Israeli regime.
For his part, Zardari felicitated the Iranian government and nation on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, and denounced the Israeli airstrike on the consular section of the Iranian Embassy in the Syrian capital city of Damascus.
“The vast cultural and historical similarities between the two countries are a suitable ground for the expansion of cultural, commercial, economic relations and the exchange of diverse and numerous capacities between the two sides,” the Pakistani president said.
Zardari also echoed Raeisi’s remarks that enemies are seeking to sour relations between Pakistan and Iran, calling for enhancement of bilateral relations and security cooperation in order to fight terrorism and prevent the menace from harming friendly ties between the two nations.
The Pakistani president emphasized that Muslim and independent countries should exert greater pressure on Israel to cease its crimes against oppressed Palestinians in Gaza.
The two neighboring countries witnessed an escalation of cross-border tensions over Iran’s counter-terrorism operations. On January 16, Iran launched simultaneous drone and missile attacks on two bases of Jaish ul-Adl, a terror outfit that was formed in 2012 and has conducted several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.
The group claimed responsibility for an attack in December 2023 on a police station in the southeastern city of Rask that killed at least 11 Iranian police officers.
On January 10, another attack by the group on a police station in the city killed one officer.
Pakistan carried out strikes on January 17 against, what it called were, bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army in regions close to Iran’s border which Tehran slammed as unbalanced.
The two countries fully restored ties in the next weeks as ambassadors resumed duties in late January.
