“The Iran-Pakistan relation is a strategic one and the security and economy of the two countries are inter-related,” said Hossein Zolfaghari, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Police Affairs, on Wednesday.
The Iranian official made the remarks while meeting with Pakistani Ambassador to Tehran Asif Ali Khan Durrani.
The two officials also in this meeting underlined the necessity of putting into practice the bilateral agreements signed by Tehran and Islamabad.
“With the current mayhem in the region, more cooperation between the two countries can prevent many insecurities,” said the Iranian official.
“We have had many contacts with Pakistani officials in the past couple of years in areas of immigration, combating terrorism, and fighting narcotics trafficking,” added Mr. Zolfaghari.
Referring to the recent visit of an Iranian delegation to Islamabad, Mr. Zolfaghari added that good meetings were held between the officials of the two countries and 21 joint commissions were held on border issues which resulted in making 371 decisions.
“Despite the good relations with Pakistan, there is a huge gap between what is practiced and what is expected when it comes to implementing the brokered agreements,” the Iranian deputy minister said.
“Around 80% of narcotics produced in Afghanistan get to Iran through Pakistani borders and also more than 80% of illegal immigrants from Afghanistan use the Pakistani border to enter Iran and the terrorist activities in East of Iran are carried out across the borders shared with Pakistan,” added Mr. Zolfaghari.
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