Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Pakistan amid rising tensions in the Middle East

Islamabad said on Sunday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will pay an official visit to Pakistan this week; The two countries are trying to mend relations after exchanging missile strikes last January.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the visit would continue from Monday to Wednesday. The trip has become a controversial topic amid rising tensions in the Middle East, after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel last week, and the sources said as Israel’s attack on central Iran on Friday.

Pakistan has announced since January that Raisi will visit the country, and the Prime Minister said last week that the visit would happen “very soon”.

Tehran downplayed Friday’s attack, which it said was apparently Israeli, and said it did not intend to respond in a response that appeared to be aimed at preventing the war in the Gaza Strip from escalating. ‘ expanded further into a region-wide conflict.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Raisi will meet the President of Pakistan, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Senate, and the Speaker of the National Assembly during the visit, according to Reuters.

The statement said: “They will also discuss regional and global developments and bilateral cooperation in countering the common threat of terrorism. “

A photo released by Iran’s Ministry of Oil from the process of laying gas pipelines between Iran and Pakistan

Both countries have been looking for years to establish a gas pipeline. Work on this project, which has an estimated cost of $7.5 billion, began in March 2013. However, a lack of financial resources prevents Pakistan from completing the related part of the project, which according to Agence France-Presse.

In February, Islamabad gave the green light to start construction of the first section with a length of 80 kilometers to avoid paying a fine estimated at billions of dollars to Tehran due to the delay in completing the work. , however, Washington, which imposes extensive economic sanctions on Tehran, reiterated in March against this project.

The ministry also indicated that Raisi will visit cities such as Lahore and Karachi and will focus on bilateral relations and trade, before Raisi moves from Pakistan to Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Pakistan called on all parties in the Middle East to “exercise maximum restraint and take measures calmly.” “

Tensions hang over the history of relations between Iran and Pakistan, but the missile attacks in January were the worst in years.

The Baloch opposition group, “Army of Justice,” which was founded in 2012, has carried out a series of attacks in southeastern Iran in recent years.

Iran and Pakistan often accuse each other of allowing rebel groups from both countries to use the other’s territory to launch attacks.

The Baloch opposition group, the Army of Justice, says it is trying to get more rights and better living conditions for the people of Balochistan, which has a Sunni majority.

In December, the opposition group claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask, Balochistan Province, Iran, which resulted in the killing of 11 Iranian policemen.

In mid-January, Tehran announced that an air and missile strike had been carried out against the headquarters of the Jaish al-Adl group inside the territory of​​​​​​Pakistan, confirming that it was targeting on an “Iranian terrorist group”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Al-Jilani receiving his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdullahian in Islamabad last January (Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The attack from Iran came after suicide attacks carried out by ISIS Khorasan in the city of Kerman, targeting a ceremony celebrating the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of foreign operations in the Revolutionary Guards.

The Iranian bombing fueled tensions between Tehran and Islamabad, as days later, Pakistan launched similar airstrikes, which it said targeted “terrorist bases” in areas near its borders inside the territory. Iran.

As a result of efforts to quickly settle the situation, each country reaffirmed its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island, and promised to expand security cooperation.

The Balochistan region, which also borders Afghanistan, has been the scene of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants, as well as between security forces and well-armed drug traffickers.