Iranian scholar sees regional stability in secure Pakistan

Says people in Tehran want stronger bilateral security cooperation

Strong support exists in Tehran for stronger and cooperative relations with Pakistan, said Iranian scholar Dr Sadollah Zarei on Saturday.

“Iran believes that a secure Pakistan will make Iran more secure,” Dr Zarei, who heads Iranian think tank Andishe Sazae Noor, said while delivering a lecture on Prospects of Pakistan-Iran Cooperation for Regional Peace and Security’ at Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI).

He said there could be many elements of stronger ties between Pakistan and Iran, but the most important plank was the much needed bilateral security cooperation. He warned that absence of security cooperation could lead to further insecurity and instability in the region.

The Iranian scholar underscored that both sides need to show flexibility to overcome the minor problems in their relations.

He warned against presence of continued external forces in the region and said that they had given nothing to countries here except for chaos and violence.



Dr Zarei believed that need for cooperation between Pakistan and Iran had increased after US President Donald Trump’s new policy for the region. He noted that US was wrong to accuse Pakistan of allegedly sponsoring terrorist elements. It was rather the Americans that were benefitting from the situation, he insisted.

National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, who presided over the session, said: “Both countries are consulting on regional peace and security with commitment to peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan”.

He observed that there was strong determination in both capitals to deepen mutual understanding, increase cooperation and scale up
Pak-Iran relations.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2017.