Pakistani President Leaves Tehran

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday wrapped up his visit to Tehran during which he discussed bilateral ties and regional developments with Iranian officials.

President Zardari was seen off by Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi.

During his stay in Tehran, the Pakistani president met Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and his counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He discussed latest international, regional and bilateral developments in his meetings with senior Iranian officials.

During his meeting with President Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, the two presidents explored avenues for the further expansion of bilateral relations between Tehran and Islamabad.

President Ahmadinejad pointed to the enemies’ efforts to prevent enhancement of ties between Iran and Pakistan, and said, “Iran and Pakistan have and will stand beside each other with a strategic outlook.”

The Pakistani president, for his part, stressed expansion of brotherly ties between the two countries, and said, ” The two countries have mutual trust and consolidated relations today despite the will of all those who intend to ruin Tehran-Islamabad relations and impede our path of cooperation.”

Also later on Wednesday, he held a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei during which the Iranian Leader noted the brotherly bonds between Iran and Pakistan, and said, “We seriously believe that the two countries’ economic, infrastructural, political, social and security ties should be reinvigorated.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the gas pipeline which is due to take Iran’s rich gas reserves to Pakistan as a crucially important instance of Tehran-Islamabad cooperation, and called for ignoring the opposition shown by certain actors to the development of Iran-Pakistan relations.

He reminded Pakistan’s urgent need to stable and secure energy resources, similar to every other country, and added, “They Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in the region which enjoys secure energy resources and we are ready to supply Pakistan’s need in this ground.”