Iran's top diplomat to visit Islamabad

Iranian foreign minister to discuss current Middle East crisis and seek Pakistan's advice and support: sources

ISLAMABAD:

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to travel to Islamabad this week as part of Tehran's diplomatic outreach to consult regional countries before responding to the recent Israeli strikes amid simmering tensions between the two arch-rivals in the Middle East.

After decades of shadow war, the two arch-rivals are now openly targeting each other.

On October 26, Israel attacked Iran, killing four Iranian soldiers. It also launched simultaneous strikes on Iraq and Syria, ostensibly targeting Iran-linked interests.

Tel Aviv's strikes against military sites in Iran were a response to attacks from "Iran and its proxies". Iran on October 2 carried out direct attack against Israel, firing close to 200 projectiles, including ballistic missiles.

The strikes were in retaliation to the Israeli killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh on the Iranian soil and also assassination of Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, one of Tehran's closest allies.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday warned Israel and the United States of "a crushing response" for actions against Iran and its allies, according to state media.

Khamenei, 85, made the remarks while addressing students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran by hard-line students – which cemented the decades-long enmity between Tehran and Washington that persists today.

"The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front," Khamenei said in the capital, Tehran.

He also referred to Iran-aligned armed groups that include Yemen's Houthis, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas. Diplomatic sources said Iran had decided to take on board regional countries including its neighbours before responding to the Israeli strikes.

In Islamabad, sources told The Express Tribune that the Iranian foreign minister would discuss the current Middle East crisis and seek Pakistan's advice and support. Islamabad was among the first countries which strongly condemned the Israeli strikes on Iran, calling it a violation of Islamic Republic's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

In an official reaction, Pakistan made it clear that Israel bore the responsibility of current tensions and urged the UN Security Council to keep a check on Israel's "recklessness and criminal behaviour." Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went a step further, stating that Pakistan stood with Iran.

Official sources said while Pakistan held Israel responsible for the tensions, it wanted de-escalation and diplomacy to take precedence over use of force. The sources said that the Pakistani side would like to advise Iran to opt for diplomacy.

However, they admit that Iran alone cannot do anything if Israel continues with its aggressive policies. Pakistan is worried that any direct conflict between Iran and Israel will have far-reaching implications for the Middle East and beyond.

Pakistan shares close to 1,000 kilometres borders with Iran and any trouble there will have impact on this side of the frontier, according to sources. Therefore, it is Pakistan's desire that the situation remains under control.

While Iran contemplates its options, the fact that it has decided to consult regional countries before any move shows that Tehran is unlikely to react in the near future.

Beside the Middle East crisis, the two countries will also discuss bilateral issues, Afghanistan situation and other matters during the visit of the Iranian foreign minister. This will be Araghchi's first visit to Pakistan since he was appointed as his country's top diplomat.