Pakistan's Prime Minister Khan arrives in Iran to talk security, ties

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Iran on Sunday for talks set to focus on strengthening ties and countering terrorism, Iranian state TV reported.

کد خبر: ۸۹۳۵۷۷

تاریخ: ۰۲ ارديبهشت ۱۳۹۸ - ۰۸:۵۸

Iranian TV said that Khan began his two-day visit to Iran, the first since he took office last August, with a stop in the northeastern holy Shi'ite city of Mashhad.

Khan will meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, as well as other officials, in Tehran on Monday.

"During the meetings, improving bilateral ties, border security, countering terrorism and regional issues will be discussed," state TV said.

Relations between Iran and Pakistan have been strained in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran says militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and has repeatedly called on Islamabad to crack down on them.

Tehran has stepped up security along its long border with Pakistan after a suicide bomber killed 27 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in mid-February in southeastern Iran, with Iranian officials saying the attackers were based inside Pakistan.

The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic Baloch minority, claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Revolutionary Guards, created by late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, is more than a military force. It is also an industrial empire with political clout and is loyal to the supreme leader.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has replaced the head of the influential Revolutionary Guards Corps, state TV reported on Sunday, days after the United States designated the elite group a foreign terrorist organization.

The TV station did not give a reason for the change when it announced the appointment of Brigadier General Hossein Salami to the position and his promotion to the rank of Major General. He served as deputy commander of the Guards for years and is known for his hardline comments against Israel and the United States.