Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi is leaving for Pakistan on a three-day visit today. His visit is being held in a special geopolitical context. The visit comes amid Iran’s tensions with Israel, but the two neighbors are trying to rebuild ties after an unprecedented anti-terrorist missile attack on each other’s territory.
Revealing the issue of the Iranian president’s visit to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters in Radhani, “He is coming. We welcome them. This visit will be on 22nd, 23rd and 24th April. We are naturally making full preparations for it.’
Dar rejected the idea that Islamabad and Tehran could cancel Raisi’s visit because of Iran’s recent military standoff with Israel. “This trip was planned many months, many weeks before this incident,” said Dar.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addressed a joint press conference at Dar Islamabad on Tuesday. There they both called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but refrained from telling Iran to attack Israel.
Pakistan and Iran share a 900 km long common border. Both countries accuse each other of not doing enough to stop extremists from harboring their own countries and carrying out terrorist attacks across borders.
In January, Iranian security forces launched a missile attack on the southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Pakistan, claiming that anti-Iranian militants were hiding there. Islamabad condemned Iran for violating its territorial integrity and launched counter-attacks on the bases of anti-Pakistani militants from Iranian territory.
All of these attacks and counter-attacks have raised concerns about a major conflict between the two Muslim states and widespread regional instability after Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.
Tehran and Islamabad quickly adopted diplomatic efforts to defuse bilateral tensions and expressed determination to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Pakistan and Iran recently reiterated their commitment to a multi-billion dollar pipeline linking the two countries. Pakistan will be able to import natural gas from Iran through that pipeline.
Although Iran says it has completed construction of a 900-km pipeline on its side of the border, construction on the Pakistani side has not yet begun. Because Islamabad fears that it will face US sanctions if it imports energy from Iran.
