ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni will soon visit Pakistan at the head of a high-level delegation to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors, according to Iranian state media.
The visit follows agreements reached during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s trip to Islamabad in June, when both countries pledged to enhance collaboration in trade, agriculture, and security.
The announcement came during a joint press conference in Tehran, where Momeni met Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is in Iran alongside senior Pakistani civil and military officials to attend the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, the delegation will include senior officials from the ministries of agriculture, industry, mining and trade, roads and urban development, foreign affairs, cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts.
Naqvi said preparations for the delegation’s visit to Islamabad had already been finalized. The upcoming trip will mark Momeni’s second visit to Pakistan this year.
During the meeting, both sides also agreed that Iran would facilitate land travel for Pakistani pilgrims attending this year’s Arbaeen, the annual Shia commemoration marking the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain (AS), who was martyred in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. Thousands of Pakistani pilgrims travel to Iran and Iraq each year to visit holy sites.
The visit builds on momentum generated during June talks between Pakistan’s Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain and Iran’s Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, who explored ways to expand bilateral trade in agricultural products, including meat, rice, and mangoes.
The two ministers also discussed removing procedural barriers that have slowed trade, with Tehran expressing interest in importing up to 60 percent of its meat requirements from Pakistan. Both countries further committed to closer cooperation in counterterrorism and cybersecurity.
They agreed to implement the commitments outlined in their joint communiqué within two months and instructed relevant authorities to expedite procedures and eliminate obstacles to boosting bilateral trade.
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Pakistan and Iran are now seeking to translate their growing diplomatic engagement into stronger economic and strategic partnerships, particularly after Islamabad played a facilitating role in contacts between Tehran and Washington that contributed to securing a ceasefire and an interim peace agreement aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East.
