Iran has drawn up plan for strategic ties with Pakistan: envoy
Tehran Times Political Desk

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan says Tehran has worked out a long-term plan to reinforce relations with its neighbors particularly Pakistan “as an important country in the Islamic world” that has a “special status” in Iran’s policy.

“Relations with Pakistan will be strategic and durable,” Mashallah Shakeri said in a joint interview with the Tehran Times, an Iranian daily and Sobheh Zahedan (Zahedan Morning) publications in his office at Iran’s embassy in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The ambassador added a “group of criminals” cannot undermine Iran’s deep-rooted relations with Pakistan, referring to the Rigi gang which has committed a series of criminal acts in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan and fled into Pakistan.

On October 18, forty-two Iranian citizens, including five senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps were martyred by the criminal gang in the city of Pishin near the border with Pakistan.

However, the ambassador insisted that Islamabad must vigilantly guard its border with Iran and it should not allow criminals use Pakistan’s soil as a safe haven.

In order to guard common borders more effectively, Tehran and Islamabad agreed to sign a “security cooperation deal” while Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar was in Pakistan on an official visit (October 24-25).

Iran’s deputy interior minister for security affairs will visit Pakistan in the future to finalize the agreement, the ambassador explained.

The agreement is intended to counter terrorism, kidnapping, drug and arms trafficking on their borders as well as money laundering and cyber crime.

The diplomat also said according to the draft agreement officials from the two countries’ neighboring provinces, including border commanders and security officials, are scheduled to meet regularly to coordinate their efforts in controlling the common border.

An “exchange of intelligence” forms the cornerstone of the draft agreement, the diplomat noted.

Pakistan says it is negotiating with abductors of Iranian diplomat

Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, commercial attaché of the Iranian consulate in Peshawar, was kidnapped when he was heading to his office on November 13, 2008.

Iran’s ambassador said no group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the diplomat. However, he said Pakistani officials could make some guesses about the identity of the group and they are negotiating with the kidnappers through intermediaries.

“They have announced that they are negotiating with the kidnappers… and hope to release him,” he noted.

Shakeri went on to say that Iran’s interior minister, during his stay in Pakistan, expressed Tehran’s “serious concern” about the kidnapped diplomat and the Pakistani side wanted Iran to be “patient” and vowed to do whatever it can to win his release.

Afghanistan issue

The presidents of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan held a summit meeting in Tehran on May 24 to discuss ways to fight extremism and terrorism, drug smuggling and trafficking; and to address other regional security problems as well as the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

The three presidents were going to meet again in Islamabad in November, which has been delayed so far due to controversy over the presidential election in Afghanistan, the ambassador explained.

Shakeri said the Afghanistan crisis is an important issue for Iran and Pakistan as two important neighbors of the war-stricken country.

Afghanistan will hold a runoff election on Nov. 7 in which incumbent President Hamid Karzai and the main opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah will face each other.

The ambassador said the three countries’ interior, economy, and intelligence ministers should meet to formulate the agenda of the talks ahead of the summit meeting.

Today what is more important is “cooperation” between the three neighbors, he added.

Like Afghanistan, Pakistan is already in fight with terrorists at home. The Pakistani army has launched attacks on terrorists in South Waziristan, an agency within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The ambassador said Iran is prepared to present a package of proposals on how to tackle crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Iran’s policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan is security and progress,” the ambassador insisted.

Promoting friendship in subcontinent

The implementation of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project will help build trust between Pakistan and India, the ambassador averred.

The 2,600-kilometer IPI pipeline, which was conceived in 1994, envisages transporting Iranian gas to Pakistan and then on to India. However, India remains reluctant to join the project, citing security concerns.

Iran and Pakistan officially signed the deal for the export of Iranian gas to Pakistan on June 5 in Istanbul.

The ambassador said Tehran is trying to include India in the project, which it calls “the peace pipeline project”, in order to promote peace between India and Pakistan.

“By (trying) to transfer energy we are willing to play our part in promoting peace,” the ambassador said when asked what role Iran can play in defusing decades-old tension between India and Pakistan.

He also said Iran could also export electricity to India through Pakistani soil.

The ambassador said the Indian railway can be connected to Pakistan-Iran-Turkey railway which would help reduce tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, as key ECO members, are linked through 6,500km (4,040 mile) railway network which made its maiden journey in August this year.

The ambassador added a request by Iran to join the SAARC (the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) would also help promote peace in South Asia.

Founded in December 1985 the regional bloc includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the treaty in April 2007.

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