2024-04-21 18:05:28
Islamabad said on Sunday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would pay an official visit to Pakistan this week; The two countries are seeking to repair relations following exchanging missile strikes last January.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the visit would continue from Monday to Wednesday. The visit has become a subject of skepticism amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, following Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel last week and what sources said was an Israeli attack on the central Iran on Friday.
Pakistan has indicated since January that Raisi would visit the country, and the prime minister said last week that the visit would take place “very soon.”
Tehran downplayed Friday’s attack, which it said was clearly Israeli, and indicated it had no intention of responding in a reaction apparently aimed at preventing the war in the Gaza Strip from escalating. expand further into a regional-scale conflict.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Raisi would meet during his visit with Pakistan’s president, prime minister, Senate president and speaker of the National Assembly, according to Reuters.
The statement added: “They will also discuss regional and global developments and bilateral cooperation to confront the common threat of terrorism. »
A photo released by the Iranian Oil Ministry of the process of laying gas pipelines between Iran and Pakistan
The two countries have been seeking to establish a gas pipeline for years. Work on this project, whose cost is estimated at $7.5 billion, began in March 2013. However, lack of financial resources prevents Pakistan from carrying out the corresponding part of the project, according to Agence France -Press.
In February, Islamabad gave the green light to begin construction of a first section with a length of 80 kilometers to avoid paying fines estimated at billions of dollars to Tehran due to the delay in completing the work, which imposes broad economic sanctions. on Tehran, reiterated its opposition to this project in March.
The ministry also said Raisi would visit major cities such as Lahore and Karachi and focus on bilateral and trade relations, before Raisi leaves Pakistan for Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Pakistan called on all parties in the Middle East to “exercise maximum restraint and take steps towards calm.”
Tensions loom over the history of relations between Iran and Pakistan, but the January missile attacks were the most serious incidents in years.
The Baloch opposition group “Army of Justice,” formed in 2012, has carried out a series of attacks in southeastern Iran in recent years.
Iran and Pakistan often accuse each other of allowing rebel groups from both countries to use each other’s territory to launch attacks.
The Baloch opposition group, the Justice Army, says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the population of predominantly Sunni Balochistan.
In December, the opposition group claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask, Balochistan province, Iran, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Iranian police officers.
In mid-January, Tehran announced the implementation of an air and missile strike once morest the headquarters of the Jaish al-Adl group inside Pakistani territory, confirming that it was targeting an “Iranian terrorist group”.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Al-Jilani receives his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdullahian in Islamabad last January (Pakistani Foreign Ministry)
The Iranian attack follows suicide bombings carried out by ISIS in Khorasan in the city of Kerman, targeting the memorial ceremony for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the head of foreign operations of the Revolutionary Guards.
The Iranian bombings sparked tensions between Tehran and Islamabad, a few days later Pakistan launched similar airstrikes, which it said targeted “terrorist havens” in areas near its borders on Iranian territory.
Efforts to calm the situation quickly led each country to affirm respect for the other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and commit to expanding security cooperation.
Balochistan province, which also borders Afghanistan, has long been the scene of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants, as well as between security forces and well-armed drug traffickers.
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