Iran urges cooperation with Pakistan to counter terrorism

A senior Iranian security official on Monday called for joint work with Pakistan to stem terrorism in the region.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, urged immediate measures with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, saying that Tehran will not allow its relations with Islamabad to be destroyed by terrorists seeking insecurity along two neighbors' borders, Tasnim news agency reported.

Shamkhani also blamed some unnamed countries for "upsetting Iran's relations with Pakistan by arming and hiring terrorists for creating insecurity along the common borders."

The Iranian official who was meeting with Pakistan's National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua in Tehran on Monday also stressed the necessity for ensuring sustainable border security and joint efforts by the two neighbors in the fight against narcotics smuggling, human and arms trafficking and gangs of outlaws.

For his part, the visiting Pakistani official called for Muslim vigilance in the face of "foreign plots that seek to fuel conflicts among Islamic countries."

Islamabad intends to promote security and economic cooperation with Iran, Janjua was quoted as saying.

On Sunday, Iranian police said that it seized more than two tonnes of opium in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan bordering Pakistan.

Also, Iran announced on Thursday that it had dismantled a terrorist cell and arrested 40 suspects in the areas bordering Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Jaish al-Adl is a rebel group fighting for the greater rights for Sunni Muslims in the Iranian provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, and is blamed for numerous attacks on Iran's border posts. Endit