TEHRAN – If the U.S. and NATO intend to adopt a “correct policy” in the region, they should understand that cooperation with Iran and Pakistan is the main “pivot” for resolving regional issues, Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani suggested.

Rafsanjani made the remarks on Tuesday in a meeting with Pakistan’s new ambassador to Tehran, M.B. Abbasi.
The statement by Rafsanjani comes as NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan plan to intensify their combat operations against Telaban as violence has surged in the country. The Obama administration has even pledged to move some of U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Rafsanjani said Tehran and Islamabad can help improve the regional security situation by expanding their political and economic relations, adding that countering extremist forces is a common goal of the two countries.
“The foreign forces present in the region can not contain the terrorists and extremists without the cooperation of Iran and Pakistan,” he noted.
The EC chairman also said “energy transactions” will provide the greatest avenue for Iran-Pakistan economic cooperation.
In the meeting, the Pakistani ambassador invited Rafsanjani to visit his country.