ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javed Zarif called on the Prime Minister’s Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on Wednesday, and discussed Yemen situation as well as bilateral relations.
The meeting took place shortly after the Iranian foreign minister arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit for talks with Pakistani leaders on bilateral matters and Yemen issue.
The Iranian foreign minister during his meeting with the advisor also shared details of the Iran-Turkey talks held in Tehran on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Tehran and called for the expansion of joint efforts aimed at fighting terrorism and extremism in the Middle East.
“The two sides agree on the view that instability, insecurity and war should stop in the entire region,” President Rouhani said in a joint press conference with the Turkish president in Tehran on Tuesday.
The Iranian foreign minister is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday.
It is likely that the discussion between the Pakistani and the Iranian sides will also cover the issue of killing of eight Iranian border security guards by terrorists that allegedly crossed over from Pakistan on Monday.
Prior to his arrival in Pakistan, the Iranian foreign minister visited Muscat to held talks with high-ranking Omani officials on regional developments as well as bilateral relations.
Talking to media in Tehran on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham said that Zarif would tour Oman and Pakistan to convey Iranian deep concern over the humanitarian
plight underway in Yemen due to the Saudi air raids.
“The visit will be in the framework of strengthening bilateral relations, surveying the regional and international developments, and boosting Iran-Pakistan border security,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson told in reference to Zarif’s visit to Islamabad.
The visit of the Iranian foreign minister to Pakistan takes place when the Pakistani lawmakers are having a discussion in Islamabad on the Yemen crises.
On March 26, a Saudi-led regional coalition launched airstrikes against Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen after the Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was forced to flee the country and asked for an international intervention to reinstate his rule.
