TEHRAN – Iranian and Pakistani defense ministers have held talks onWashington’s role in the region days after US President Donald Trumplaunched a spree of belligerent twitter messages against the two powerfulMuslim nations.
In a Thursday telephone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart KhurramDastgir-Khan, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ali Hatami hailedgrowing defense cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad.
Hatami said the latest developments in the region and the Islamic worldrequire more interactions among the officials of Iran and Pakistan as twomajor countries in the region and the Muslim world.
“The Americans always blame others for their own failures in differentparts of the world and follow the strategy of the Zionist regime (Israel)to destabilize the region,” he said.
The Iranian defense chief said the “evil and stupid policies of the US” arethe root cause of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan andthe deaths of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and Syria on adaily basis.
Hatami pointed to the ample potentials existing for military cooperationbetween Iran and Pakistan and stressed that the two countries shouldutilize their capacities to boost economic growth and security.
The Pakistani defense minister, for his part, welcomed enhancement ofmilitary cooperation with Iran, noting that the two countries shouldbolster their cooperation further given the rapid pace of the regionaldevelopments.
Dastgir-Khan also criticized Trump’s repeated tweets against Pakistan,stressing that Muslim nations have a sovereign right to guarantee their ownsecurity.
Iran and Pakistan are already cooperating on confronting Takfiri terroristswho operate near their joint borders.
The latest phone conversations came only days after Trump posted a seriesof tweets, in which he voiced support for scattered riots in Iran andaccused Pakistan of supporting terrorists.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than $33 billion inaid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies &deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to theterrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trumptweeted on Monday.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif fired back and said his governmentwas preparing a response that “will let the world know the truth.”
A senior Pakistani senator on Friday expressed disappointment at theUS decision to suspend military aid to Islamabad, saying it will bedetrimental to Pakistani-US relations.
Nuzhat Sadiq, the chairwoman of the Senate Foreign Affairs committee in theupper house of parliament, said Islamabad can manage without the UnitedStates as it did in the 1990s.
Sadiq said that “what the US is doing now is not good for its policyagainst terrorism and for a lasting peace in this region.”