“We welcome the Iranian offer for a broad based dialogue process in Afghanistan”, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told a questioner at a joint press conference with the visiting Secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, shortly after their talks.
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Islamabad-Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday expressed their commitment to promote their political, economic, defence and cultural relations as well as close cooperation for unity and solidarity among Islamic countries.
On July 14 this year, Iran and six world major powers clinched a historic deal also called ‘Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)’ in Vienna on Tehran’s nuclear program which paved the way for the lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic while in return, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities.
The minister said that Pakistan could not make progress on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline due to worldwide sanctions on Iran.
Asked whether Iran would join the US-led global alliance against Daesh, he said that Iran will extend co-operation to everyone fighting a “genuine” war against the group, adding Iran along with its “allies” is fighting the “real” war against Daesh.
On Kashmir, Iranian official said his country supports resolution of the issue through talks in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiris.
He said terrorism and religious extremism against the Muslims are being projected and it needs joint efforts by the Muslim community to counter these measures.
The Iranian top security official also extended his deepest sympathy and regrets over the deadly natural disaster that hit Pakistan on Monday, saying Iran is ready to provide immediate humanitarian aid and relief assistance to the quake-hit areas. Aziz further said that Pakistan would also welcome Iran’s contribution to the Afghan reconciliation process. “We hope that the implementation of the agreement will open up new avenues of economic and trade opportunities for both countries and contribute to the promotion of peace, security and prosperity in the region and beyond”, he added.
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The prime minister’s advisor added that in view of the security scenario, the two countries have agreed to work together through closer coordination on controlling existing terrorist threats.
