TEHRAN -- Iranian Minister of Defense Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, in a message Monday to his new Pakistani counterpart Rao Sikandar Iqbal congratulated him on his appointment as Pakistani senior defense minister.

Pointing to new trends of security cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, Shamkhani expressed hope that defense and security cooperation between the two sides would gain momentum during Iqbal's tenure.

In a part of his message, Shamkhani hoped that bilateral security cooperation between the two countries would enter a new phase in the fields of hardware and software.

At the end of the message, the Iranian minister wished success for his Pakistani counterpart, IRNA said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali appointed Rao Sikandar Iqbal as the senior defense minister of the country on November 23.