Press TV- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has met with his Pakistani counterpartKhawaja Muhammad Asifin Tehranto discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional and international developments.
Asif arrived in Tehran on Monday for a one-day visit at the head of a political and economic delegation for talks with Zarif as well asIranian President Hassan Rouhani and Vice President for Economic AffairsMohammad Nahavandian.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said bilateral relations and the new US strategy in Afghanistan were at the heart of the negotiations.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"]
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif (L) meets with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) in Tehran, Sept. 11, 2017. (Photo by IRNA)[/caption]Asif will head to Iran's holy city of Mashhad later in the day to visit the shrine of Imam Reza (Peace Be Upon Him), the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims,and meet local officials, the news agency reported.
The Pakistani foreign minister is on a four-nation tour of China, Russia, Iran and Turkey as tensions havebeen risingbetween Islamabad and Washington over the latters new strategy in Afghanistan.He has already traveled to China and plans to visitTurkey next before winding down his trip in Russia.
Pakistani diplomats said the trip sends a strong message to the US that Pakistan enjoys broad regional support, after President DonaldTrump accused Islamabad of continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists in Afghanistan.
General John Nicholson, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, said later that Washington was "aware of the presence" of Taliban leaders in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar.
On August 30, the Pakistani National Assembly passed a resolution denouncing Trumps and Nicholsons statements on Pakistan as hostile and threatening.
Speaking before the assembly, Asif urged the government to close off ground and air lines of communication through Pakistan.
Afghanistan, the US and its allies should close their borders to leaders of terrorist, militant groups carrying out acts of terrorism against Pakistan, he added.
Afghanistan has been torn by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion by the US and its allies, while the Daesh terrorist group has emerged there more recently despite the presence of foreign troops.
