Iran to send high-powered delegation to Pakistan to deepen strategic ties

• Iranian state media says Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to lead multi-sector team for talks in Islamabad

• Delegation to explore cooperation in trade, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism and diplomacy

• Visit signals push to broaden Pakistan-Iran partnership beyond border security

• Tehran to facilitate overland travel for Pakistani pilgrims attending Arbaeen

 ISLAMABAD: Iran will soon dispatch a high-level delegation led by Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Pakistan to expand bilateral cooperation in key sectors, including agriculture, industry, trade, transport, tourism and foreign affairs, in a move aimed at broadening ties beyond security cooperation and accelerating economic engagement, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

The planned visit reflects renewed efforts by Tehran and Islamabad to deepen bilateral cooperation by strengthening trade, investment and commercial linkages, while also expanding collaboration in agriculture, energy, border security and religious tourism.

The visit also comes as Pakistan has assumed a more prominent diplomatic role in the region following months of conflict between Iran and the United States. In recent months, Islamabad has facilitated contacts and mediated talks between Tehran and Washington while simultaneously working to strengthen bilateral relations with Iran through high-level exchanges and agreements focused on expanding economic cooperation.

“This delegation will include senior officials from the ministries of agriculture, industry, mining and trade, roads and urban development, foreign affairs, cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported following a joint press conference between Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran.

Naqvi, who travelled to Iran as part of Pakistan’s high-level delegation attending the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, welcomed the planned visit.

“Arrangements have been made for the Iranian delegation’s visit to Islamabad and we are happy that the Iranian interior minister will head the delegation,” Naqvi said, according to IRNA.

The report said Iran had also agreed to facilitate overland travel for Pakistani pilgrims participating in this year’s Arbaeen commemorations.

Arbaeen, one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings, marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), with hundreds of thousands of Pakistani pilgrims travel through Iran each year to visit the holy sites in neighbouring Iraq.

The planned visit follows discussions held during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's visit to Islamabad last month, when the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation in trade, agriculture and security.