TEHRAN, Oct 13 (DNA): Former Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour said on Sunday that Iran welcomes Pakistan’s efforts to drive the region to de-escalation and that compared to other countries, Pakistan has a better record of mediation efforts in the region.Pakistan is one the most important countries in the region that has a900-km long border with Iran. Many of their issues have mutual impacts
on the other.
Islamabad, undoubtedly has several areas for cooperation
and interaction with Iran, said veteran diplomat Ebrahim Rahimpour.
Referring to the reason of Pakistan independence from India, Rahimpour
said that Pakistan gained independence from India based on the religion
of the people, i.e. Islam, and that’s why it cannot be indifferent to
the situation in the Islamic countries.
He added that, on the other hand, there are two big powers in the Muslim
World, called Iran and Saudi Arabia, and tension in their relations
affects the entire Muslim World, including Pakistan. Islamabad tries
hard to prevent tensions.
Regarding the strategic ties of Islamabad with Tehran and Riyadh, he
said Iran and Pakistan have a lot in common in culture, history,
language, and religion, and three million Pakistanis live in Saudi
Arabia, which sends a satisfactory income to Pakistan every year.
The Two Holy Mosques are located in Saudi Arabia, which makes the
country holy for Pakistanis and encourages Islamabad to have good ties
with Riyadh.
Referring to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Iran, he
said that the visit has a lot on agenda, including mediation between
Iran and the Saudi government.
Rahimpour added that Islamabad’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between
Iran and Saudi Arabia is nothing new. Former President of Pakistan
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq tried to mend the ties between the two powers of the
Islamic world in the framework of Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif also made some efforts
that were not welcomed by the Saudis, he said, adding that Prime
Minister Imran Khan’s efforts are actually the follow-up the previous
measures taken by Islamabad.
Though their previous efforts failed, they are not disappointed and of
course they shouldn’t be. The new efforts may pave the way for the
future ones, said Rahimpour.
He added that the roots of Imran Khan’s efforts originate in the
previous moves made by Pakistan in that regards and on the other hand,
Iran is an important country for Pakistan and Islamabad doesn’t want
Tehran-Riyadh tensions have an impact on itself, so it follows the
initiative of mediation.
Another motivation of Prime Minister Imran Khan is the domestic
situation in Pakistan: the issues of Kashmir, Afghanistan, India, and
improving domestic economy. He tried to de-escalate Tehran-Riyadh ties
to leave a positive legacy from himself, Rahimpour said.
The veteran diplomat Rahimpour added that Pakistan made some efforts in
New York to ease the tensions between Tehran and Washington, as well.
Regarding the statement published by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan
that said the visit is not made at Riyadh request, he said that the
Pakistanis behaved in a way that implied they were asked to do so by the
Saudis, and as the Saudis have always wanted to speak to Iran from the
instance of power, even if that was the case, Islamabad shouldn’t have
revealed it. So they had to publish the statement to say that was not
the case.
Taking any actions toward easing tension is good, but thinking that
after Imran Khan’s visit to Tehran, everything between Iran and the
Saudi Government will be solved is not right.
Regarding the fact that an Iranian oil tanker, SABITI, was hit in the
Red Sea on the threshold of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Tehran,
he said most probably that is not related to the visit. The region is in
chaos, so things like this may happen to anyone, even Iran.
He said that the only way to put an end to such incidents is to
cooperate with each other, and since there is no mutual understanding
and dialog between countries, things like that may happen further. =DNA
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