Iran-Pakistan Can Resolve Regional Problems: Official

Islamabad, April 17, IRNA – Iran and Pakistan are able to resolve regional problems without the help of outside powers, visiting First Deputy Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyyed Ebrahim Ra'eisi said on Monday. He made the remarks in his meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Islamabad Ali-Reza Haqiqian. “Iran's success is assumed as successes of the Muslim world and Pakistani people understand this very well; Tehran and Islamabad relations are historical and the two sides are committed to promote the level of cooperation; Founder of Islamic Republic of Iran late Imam Khomeini (P) and Iran’s Supreme Leader Sayed Ali Khamene'ie's thoughts have been always inspiring for Pakistani Muslims,” the official added. Ra'eisi who travelled Islamabad on Friday to attend an international judiciary meeting, after a three-day visit to this country left Pakistan for Tehran on Monday. Iran-Pakistan relations began when Iran was the first country to officially recognize the establishment of Pakistan. The two also share a 900km border. Both Iran and Pakistan share a border with Afghanistan. There is a long history of contact and mutual influence between the two nations, with significant aspects of Pakistani culture directly descended from Iranian cultures. Politically, Iran was the first country to officially acknowledge the newly formed state of Pakistan in 1947 as well. Pakistan and Iran have a number of areas of mutual interest and opinion on Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia-Herzegovina and other matters concerning the Muslim Ummah. The key languages of both countries - Persian, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, Sindhi, Urdu - are part of the Indo-Iranian and Indo-European languages family tree. Modern day Urdu draws its script and a significant part of its vocabulary from Persian. The national anthem of Pakistan is written in a heavily Persianized dialect of Urdu. A small Parsi community continues to live in Karachi. Pakistan still has an estimated 1.5 to 2 million native speakers of Persian. As a result of these close geographical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties, there are strong common ethno-linguistic and cultural bonds between Iranians and Pakistan. Both the countries joined the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a derivative of Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD), which was established in 1964. The ECO groups neighboring Muslim states recently expanded to Central Asia. As part of this regional organizational framework both countries continue to cooperate on trade and investment. The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is currently under discussion. It could be a major development between all three nations. Iran has also offered to construct a motorway between Iran and Pakistan connecting the two countries. Iran has no diplomatic relations with United States; Iranian interest in the United States is represented by the Pakistan embassy in Washington.end