ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan said Tuesday it was trying gain consular access to some 94 Pakistanis held by neighboring Iran, mostly for violating immigration laws.

Many were arrested more than a year ago while trying to go to European countries in search of work, interior ministry secretary Syed Kamal Shah told a press conference.

Shah said he held talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran last week and they assured him they would take the necessary steps to grant access to the prisoners.

Islamabad also handed over the names of some 10 Pakistani human smugglers living in Iran and Tehran had pledged not to allow any "terrorists" to shelter on its territory, Shah said.

Pakistan is trying to crush a sporadic insurgency by tribal rebels in its southwestern Baluchistan province bordering Iran. The tribesmen share the same Baluch ethnicity as many in southeastern Iran.