Pezeshkian’s visit

A sort of reciprocal visit

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian's visit to Islamabad on Tuesday on a one-day visit was his first to a foreign country after his country’s war with the USA and Israel this year, and saw him acknowledging Pakistan’s role in the crisis. It was an irresistible reminder of the visit to Iran by Pakistani Shehbaz Sharif last year, on 26 May, in his first visit ito a foreign country after the 2025 confrontation with India, in which he thanked Iran for its support. It is of some significance that Iran entertains such warm feelings for Pakistan even though it was also close enough to the USA to act as a mediator in the conflict, a role which is by no means over, as Iran and the USA engage in technical talks over its nuclear programme, with Pakistan has one of the mediators. Indeed, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had landed in Islamabad in time to receive Pezeshkian after having been in Switzerland to attend the opening of the talks.

One of the aspects that was discussed during the talks President Pezeshkian had with President Asif Ali Zardari, Mr Sharif and Field Marshal Munir was that of the need for a common Muslim front. This should sound something of a warning bell, because there has been an increasingly vociferous Israeli attempt to drive a sectarian line of division between Shia and Sunni, with Iran representing the former and the Gulf monarchies the latter. This does not take into account that Iran has been a steadfast supporter of Hamas, which is very much a Sunni group. True, Hezbollah, with which Israel is so exercised, is a Shia group, and Iran did back the Assad regime, but when the opposition is Israel, unity becomes a necessity, especially when, as was noted during the talks, there were spoilers out to sabotage the peace talks.

The search for security means that Sunni and Shia both have to rise above the sectarian division and work for unity. The region is destabilized by the very presence of Israel. It is more than obvious that it is only by working together that Muslims can ensure that they become masters of their own fate, rather than be subject to the whim of any outsider to the region.