Iran believes in resolving issues through talks

 Envoy lauds Pak role in defusing crisis with Saudi Arabia

PESHAWAR: Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad B. Beigi has supported Pakistan’s efforts to resolve Iran-Saudi Arabian crisis and said every issue could be resolved through negotiations.

Talking to journalists here on Monday, he said he could not understand the reason behind forming the 34-country alliance against terrorism as it was announced without taking all Muslims states into confidence. He said his country would definitely support the efforts meant for eradicating terrorism. He said it was strange to announce an alliance when the member states were not clear about its objectives.

He said Iran had condemned the burning down of the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and launched investigation into the incident, but the other side reacted without waiting for the outcome of the probe. He added that Iran didn’t react to the killing of Iranian pilgrims during Hajj.

To a question, the Iranian consul general said his country was not only in favour of Gwadar Port, but it also provided electricity to it. He said the governor of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province recently visited Quetta and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) declaring Gwadar and Chabahar sister ports. He hoped this would strengthen trade between the two countries. He dismissed the allegations of Iran’s support to India to create disturbance in Balochistan and said that Iran and Pakistan shared not only a border, but also a common religion and culture. “This isn’t true,” he stressed.

He called for strengthening of surveillance on the Pak-Iran border to control illegal movement and smuggling.Regarding Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, he said his country had laid down the pipeline and now it was up to Pakistan to start work on the project as the international sanctions on Iran had been lifted. To a query, he said that Iran supported the initiatives of Pakistan and Afghanistan for talks with the Taliban and said all the stakeholders should be sincere to bring peace to the region. The Iranian diplomat was hopeful of economic revival of his country and said the delegations of various European countries had started arriving in Tehran, adding it was the sign of improvement in the situation. In particular, he referred to the visit of the Chinese president to Iran.