Change of governments cannot diminish importance of Iran-Pak ties: Ambassador

In an interview with IRNA, Mehdi Honardoost praised the four-year diplomatic achievements of the incumbent government of Iran and said that the government through its strong diplomatic team had turned environment of rivalry into atmosphere of friendship and dialogue.

He said that Iran through its wisdom has shown to the world that diplomacy is the best way to remove tensions.

The ambassador expounding on the challenges the government had faced in the diplomatic field said conspiracies of imperialist forces, external interference and presence of foreign forces in the region were the main challenges to the government.

Honardoost said Iran’s nuclear deal and lifting of sanctions have paved the way for strong bilateral ties especially in economic, political and cultural fields.

He added that President Hassan Rouhani visited Pakistan two times in last Iranian year one for a bilateral visit and then to participate in the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) summit in Islamabad.

The ambassador said that Iran and Pakistan had signed seven different agreements of cooperation during the first visit of President Hassan Rouhani to Pakistan and his second visit for the ECO summit also provided a great opportunity to further enhance the bilateral ties.

The diplomat expressing his views said that in current circumstances bilateral trade between Iran and Pakistan has seen 30 percent increase with the trade volume of $ 1 billion and both countries are determined to take this volume to $ 5 billion per year in coming years.

Mehdi Honardoost said that the upcoming presidential elections have great significance at internal, regional and international levels.

He added that broad participation of the Iranian people in the election would give strength to the leaders for the development and prosperity of the country.

He said that people of Iran have full faith in the Islamic diplomacy whereas today in many European countries one could see only 50 percent of public participation in elections.

The ambassador said that having strong relations with neighboring countries, especially Pakistan is the priority of Iran and change of governments cannot undermine importance of Iran-Pak ties rather they would further grow in future.

He said expansion in bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan would create harmony in the region and also help in protecting the interest of the Muslim world.

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