TEHRAN, Nov. 19 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed a host of issues, including the fate of remaining abducted Iranian border guards.

During the meeting, which was held in Tehran on Tuesday, the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest in different political, economic and security fields.

The Iranian diplomat called on the Pakistani side to gear up the efforts to increase the security of common borders and deal with the issue of the Iranian guards out who were abducted by a Pakistan-based terrorist group last year.

12 Iranian border guards, including local Basij volunteer forces, were abducted by the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terror group near the Pakistan-Iran border point of Mirjaveh on October 16, 2018. Nine guards were released last year but the fate of three remaining soldiers still remains unknown.

The Pakistani general, for his part, stressed that Islamabad would take serious action against any measure that is aimed at undermining insecurity in those areas.

The visiting Pakistani general has held meetings with other Iranian officials, including Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi and President Hassan Rouhani.

In April, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan agreed to set up a joint rapid reaction unit along the common border to combat terrorism.

Iranian military forces along the southeastern border areas are frequently attacked by terrorist groups coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

MNA/4776184