TEHRAN – Former Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour has said thatIran welcomes efforts by Pakistan to reduce tension in the Middle Eastregion.
“Compared to other countries, Pakistan has better and more acceptablerecord for mediation which affects Iran’s view,” he told IRNA in aninterview published on Sunday.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, visited Tehran on Sunday for talkswith Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and PresidentHassan Rouhani. Khan will then visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. His visitsare in line with playing a mediatory role to reduce tension between Iranand Saudi Arabia.
Rahimpour said, “There are main powers in the world of Islam which are Iranand Saudi Arabia, and tension in their relations affects the world ofIslamic and also Pakistan. In other words, tension in relations betweenIran and Saudi Arabia causes tension in Pakistan.”
He noted that any effort in line with reducing tension and promotingdialogue is “positive”.
In an article published by the Etemad daily on Sunday, Rahimpour wrote thatIran trusts Pakistan as an intermediary.
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“The Islamic Republic of Iran trusts both Pakistan and Iraq asintermediaries. This trust will throw the ball at Saudis’ court and putthem in a difficult situation to accept dialogue or reject mediation,” theformer deputy foreign minister wrote.
The Pakistani prime minister visited Tehran on Sunday as tension in theregion is getting more complicated. On October 11, an Iranian oil tankerwas struck by two missiles in the Red Sea, 60 miles away from the Saudicoastlines.
Riyadh and the United States had blamed Iran for the September 14 droneattacks on the Saudi oil facilities without presenting a substantialevidence. Yemen, which is under attack by the Saud-led coalition, had takenresponsibility for the attack.
Khan had earlier said that he was making an effort to mediate betweenTehran and Riyadh. He held talks with Saudi Arabia’s leaders in Riyadh, aswell as Rouhani at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September.
