Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian will arrive in Pakistan on Saturday for his first official visit as head of state, the Pakistani foreign office confirmed today. The one-day state visit is expected to focus on boosting cooperation in trade, energy, and security, amid improving relations between the two neighbouring countries.
President Pezeshkian will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, senior ministers, and top officials. During the visit, he is scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Although Pakistan and Iran share close cultural and religious ties, their relationship has occasionally been strained by instability and militant activity along the shared border. However, both nations have shown willingness to resolve disputes diplomatically and strengthen cooperation in recent years.
In May this year, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Tehran following an earlier visit to Islamabad by Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi. Those diplomatic exchanges came at a time of heightened tensions in South Asia and the Middle East, including fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict.
President Pezeshkian’s visit is seen as part of a broader effort to reinforce regional stability and bilateral economic ties. The Iranian president had earlier hosted PM Sharif in Tehran in May, alongside a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The two countries had faced a brief diplomatic crisis in January last year when they exchanged cross-border airstrikes on what each claimed were terrorist targets. However, relations stabilised after the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Pakistan in April 2024, where several cooperation agreements were signed across various sectors.
The foreign office expressed hope that the current visit would further deepen the “brotherly relations” between the two nations and open new avenues of cooperation, especially in light of Pakistan’s support for Iran during the 12-day war with Israel earlier this year.
Regional observers view the visit as a key step in consolidating Iran-Pakistan ties and addressing shared strategic concerns in the region.
