ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam has said Pakistan and Iran, as neighbouring countries with deep historical, cultural and people-to-people ties, have a shared interest in strengthening cooperation across all areas.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a roundtable discussion at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Wednesday, the ambassador said the geographical proximity of the two countries offered significant opportunities to expand trade, connectivity and regional economic cooperation by reducing transportation and logistical costs.<\/p>\n
Dr Moghadam said Pakistan and Iran shared a long border as well as maritime connectivity, which provided a strong basis for further strengthening bilateral relations. He noted that Iran could serve as a gateway for Pakistan to Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkiye and European markets, while Pakistan could provide Iran access to markets in South Asia and beyond.<\/p>\n
The Iranian envoy identified road, maritime and railway links as key pillars of bilateral economic cooperation. Referring to possible cooperation among Karachi, Gwadar and Bandar Abbas, he underlined the need to expand border crossings and improve border infrastructure.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the potential for increased Pakistani food exports to Iran and greater transit activity through Pakistan. On railway connectivity, the ambassador said Iran had developed infrastructure towards Zahedan and the Pakistani border. He added that further development on the Pakistani side would be required to establish an effective rail connection linking Pakistan with Central Asia and European markets.<\/p>\n
On regional security, Dr Moghadam appreciated the solidarity shown by the Government and people of Pakistan during the hostilities between the United States and Iran. He acknowledged the diplomatic efforts of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Pakistan\u2019s senior leadership in seeking de-escalation and facilitating dialogue.<\/p>\n
The ambassador said Iran remained committed to negotiations and to a peaceful and sustainable solution, while maintaining readiness to respond to security challenges if required. Referring to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, he said credible commitments and their implementation were essential for future diplomatic processes.<\/p>\n
He expressed concern over continuing tensions in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza, warning that prolonged confrontation was pushing the region towards greater instability. He called for sustained diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and promote peaceful solutions.<\/p>\n
Dr Moghadam concluded by saying that stronger and sustained engagement between Pakistan and Iran was important for regional peace and stability.<\/p>\n
The roundtable was hosted by ISSI and organised by its Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa. It was moderated by ISSI Director General Ambassador Moin Ul Haque. Former senior diplomats, politicians, military officials, leading academics and security analysts attended the discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iranian Ambassador Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam says Pakistan and Iran can expand trade, connectivity and regional cooperation through stronger bilateral engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}