Iranian VP, Pakistan stress expansion of Tehran-Islamabad ties

Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Pakistani political leader Nawaz Sharif, whose Muslim League Party won the last week parliamentary elections in the country, discussed avenues for the further expansion of the relations between the two neighboring countries in different fields. Rahimi contacted Sharif on Monday to felicitate his party's victory in the parliamentary elections in Pakistan last week. Sharif headed for a third term in office as Pakistan's Prime Minister after his party took an unassailable lead over its rivals in landmark general elections that witnessed a huge turnout despite Taliban threats and bomb attacks. During the phone conversation, Rahimi expressed the hope that the two countries' relations would witness further growth and prosperity under the new government in Islamabad. He reiterated Iran's support for the progress of Pakistan, and underscored Tehran's preparedness to supply a major part of Pakistan's gas and electricity needs. Sharif, for his part, underlined his countries' preparedness to further expand mutual cooperation with Iran, adding that his government will do its best to promote the level of Islamabad-Tehran relations and keep the two nations' ties as strong and profound as before. Iran and Pakistan exchange delegations on a regular basis and the two neighboring countries are keen to expedite expansion of their bilateral trade ties. In March, Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction phase of a several-billion-dollar gas pipeline project which is due to take Iran's rich gas reserves to the energy-hungry Muslim country. The project kicked off in a ceremony attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari at the two countries' shared border region in Iran's Southeastern city of Chabahar.