FM Zarif Highlights Tehran-Islamabad Cooperation on Border Security

Zarif, who is visiting Islamabad on a two-day official visit, described the terrorist attacks happening occasionally in borders shared by Iran and Pakistan as “sad and regrettable”, and said promotion of security cooperation between the two countries is “crucial” to countering such attacks.

He made the remarks in a Thursday meeting with Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani in Islamabad.

Zarif’s comments came three days after eight Iranian border guards were killed in the country’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan when assailants coming from Pakistan opened fire on them in an ambush and escaped cross the border.

Earlier on his trip, Zarif also met Pakistan’s Finance and Revenue Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

At the Thursday meeting, the two sides conferred on economic cooperation between the two countries, particularly on energy, power, gas pipeline, increase of trade ties, and acceleration of joint projects.

Iran’s foreign minister had also held separate meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Pakistani Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, and Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistani premier’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs.

Zarif’s trip to Pakistan is mainly aimed at discussing regional problems with Yemeni officials, especially the ongoing crisis in Yemen.

The visit is seen as significant in view of the Yemen war, especially given that Saudi Arabia is pushing Pakistan to join its ranks in the aggression against the Arab country.

Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies on March 26 began to militarily interfere in Yemen's internal affairs by launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.