Pakistan's Sharif hosts Iran's Pezeshkian, agrees to security, trade boost
Sunday's agreements across various sectors, including energy and trade, were signed during the two-day visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
'We have set a target of $10bn in trade and hope to achieve it as soon as possible,' Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, addressing a joint press briefing.
Sharif reiterated Pakistan's stance of supporting Iran's right to a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes under the United Nations charter and condemned Israel's aggression against Iran, saying there was 'no justification' for the 12-day June conflict in which the United States militarily intervened on Israel's behalf.
He said the two countries would take effective steps to eliminate 'terrorism' and open the avenues of prosperity in the region. Pakistan and regional rival India were on the cusp of their fifth all-out war earlier this year before a ceasefire ended several days of heavy and deadly aerial exchanges.
The Iranian president said, 'My deep belief is that we can easily, in a short time, increase the volume of our trade relations from the current $3bn to the projected goal of $10bn.'
He thanked the government and people supporting Iran 'during the 12-day terrorist aggression by the Zionist regime and the United States'.
Analyst Ammar Habib Khan of the Institute of Business Administration told Al Jazeera that the informal trade between Iran and Pakistan is likely to increase more than the formal trade target shared by the countries.
'Discussions have been held on how to formalise the informal trade that is already happening, whether it is oil, gas or something else,' he told Al Jazeera from Karachi.
The analyst said Pakistan's normalising relations with Iran might lead to the creation of a trade route between Pakistan and Europe.
'It would be an efficient and logistically sound route,' he said.
Along with a high-level delegation, including foreign and defence ministers, Pezeshkian arrived on a two-day visit to Pakistan on Saturday.
Tense ties
Pezeshkian called for better border management and cooperation around the mutual border to counter security threats.
In return, Sharif said that Islamabad and Tehran have a common stand against 'terrorism', and no such activity would be allowed in Pakistan or Iran.
'We have to protect our borders and take strict steps against terrorism to open the roads to peace and development in the region,' said Sharif.
Relations between Pakistan and Iran have often been shaky, especially over cross-border tensions that escalated in January 2024 when both sides launched tit-for-tat missile strikes.
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said Pakistan and Iran have agreed to cooperate in order to ensure violence is prevented on either side.
'They agreed to have more border management between the two countries,' he said.
Hyder added that the sides also discussed Pakistan acting as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, among other countries trying to ease tensions between archenemies.
Despite the strains, the two countries have kept the diplomatic door open.
In May, the Iranian foreign minister visited Pakistan amid rising tensions with India. During the Iran-Israel conflict, Pakistan supported Iran's right to self-defence and condemned the US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The leaders of Pakistan and Iran also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel's attacks in the enclave.
The two sides also inked a string of memorandums of understanding in the fields of information technology, law and justice, climate change, and tourism.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Brazil requests World Trade Organization consultation over Trump tariffs
The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has petitioned the World Trade Organization for consultations to help alleviate the steep tariffs imposed on Brazil by the United States. Sources within the Brazilian government confirmed the petition on Wednesday to news outlets like AFP and The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity. The aim is to seek relief from the 50 percent tariff that US President Donald Trump slapped on Brazilian exports in response to the country's prosecution of a former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. That tariff — the highest Trump has imposed on any country in August — took effect on Wednesday. India, meanwhile, is expected to face 50 percent tariffs later this month, unless a deal is struck beforehand. A request for consultations is usually the first step in the World Trade Organization's trade dispute process. The organisation functions as an international arbiter in economic disputes, though its procedures for negotiating settlements can be lengthy and inconclusive. Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin has estimated that 35.9 percent of the country's exports to the US will be subject to the stiff taxes. That equals about 4 percent of Brazil's total exports worldwide. Retaliation over Bolsonaro prosecution Trump unveiled the current tariff rate on July 9, in a letter addressed to Lula and published online. Unlike other tariff-related letters at the time, Trump used the correspondence to launch into a barbed attack on the Brazilian government for its decision to prosecute Bolsonaro, an ally, over an alleged coup attempt. 'The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,' Trump wrote. Just as Trump did after his 2020 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro had publicly cast doubt on the results of a 2022 presidential race that saw him lose to Lula. But behind the scenes, police and prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro conspired with his associates to overturn the results of the election. One possible scenario was to declare a 'state of siege' during Bolsonaro's final days as president, as a means of calling up the military and suspending civil rights. Then, a new election would have been called, according to prosecutors. Another idea allegedly floated among Bolsonaro's allies was to poison Lula. But Trump, who likewise faced criminal charges in the past for allegedly attempting to subvert the outcome of a vote, has defended Bolsonaro, calling the prosecution politically biased. 'This trial should not be taking place,' he wrote in the July 9 letter. 'It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Several weeks later, on July 30, Trump followed up his tariff threat with an executive order that doubled down on his accusations. Not only did Trump accuse Brazil of 'politically persecuting' Bolsonaro, but he added that Brazil was guilty of 'human rights abuses', including the suppression of free speech, through its efforts to stem disinformation on social media. 'Recent policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,' Trump wrote. 'Members of the Government of Brazil have taken actions that interfere with the economy of the United States, infringe the free expression rights of United States persons, violate human rights, and undermine the interest the United States has in protecting its citizens and companies.' Lula speaks out The executive order, however, included an annex that indicated certain products would not be subject to the new US tariffs. They included nuts, orange juice, coal, iron, tin and petroleum products. Lula has claimed that Trump is impeding attempts to negotiate a trade deal between their two countries, a sentiment he repeated in an interview on Wednesday with the news agency Reuters. 'The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him,' Lula told Reuters. 'But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I'm not going to humiliate myself.' The three-term, left-wing president explained that he saw Trump's tariff threats as part of a long history of US intervention in Brazil and Latin America more broadly. 'We had already pardoned the US intervention in the 1964 coup,' Lula said, referencing the overthrow of a Brazilian president that sparked a two-decade-long military dictatorship 'But this now is not a small intervention. It's the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It's unacceptable.' Lula added that he plans to bolster Brazil's 'national sovereignty' by reforming its mineral extraction policy to boost the local economy. With the US tariffs in play, Lula also explained that he would reach out to members of the BRICS economic trading bloc, named for its founding members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Trump, however, has threatened any BRICS-affiliated country with an additional 10-percent tariff. Lula has been on an English-language media blitz since Trump announced the latest his latest slate of tariffs in July, warning that consumers across the world will be penalised. Late last month, for instance, Lula gave his first interview to The New York Times newspaper in nearly 13 years. When the Times asked what his reaction would be to the tariffs taking effect, Lula expressed ambivalence. 'I'm not going to cry over spilled milk,' he said. 'If the United States doesn't want to buy something of ours, we are going to look for someone who will.'
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel pushes for more illegal settlements in occupied West Bank amid raids
Israeli authorities are moving forward with plans to dramatically expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite growing international condemnation and warnings that the move would destroy already moribund prospects for a two-state solution. The Israeli government has set Wednesday as the date to discuss building thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, east of occupied East Jerusalem. The proposed expansion would link the large and illegal Ma'ale Adumim settlement with Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government also appears on the cusp of announcing its intention to occupy all of Gaza as its genocidal war on the besieged enclave rages on. The E1 plan in the West Bank has long been criticised by the international community, including the European Union and successive United States administrations. In 2022, Israel postponed the plan following US pressure, but in recent months, the government approved road-widening projects in the area and began restricting Palestinian access – a move rights groups say indicates a renewed push to entrench control. Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice, the top United Nations tribunal, reaffirmed that position last year, saying that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end 'as rapidly as possible'. On Monday, Germany reiterated its strong opposition to the E1 project. 'We, as the federal government, strongly reject the E1 settlement project,' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer said. 'What we are concerned about is that a two-state solution is possible in the long term.' The plan would see nearly 1,214 hectares (3,000 acres) of Palestinian land stolen to build more than 4,000 settlement units, as well as hotels and roads connecting Ma'ale Adumim to West Jerusalem. Palestinians say the project is part of broader efforts to 'Judaise' East Jerusalem and entrench Israeli control over occupied territories in violation of international law. Palestinian leaders seek the entirety of the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip, and as a capital, East Jerusalem – areas Israel captured in the 1967 war – for their future state. Currently, more than 500,000 settlers are living in the West Bank, and some 220,000 others in East Jerusalem. Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim said the plan has been in the works since 'the early 90s'. 'The plan has been described by US officials … as devastating and a disastrous plan,' Ibrahim said, as it threatens 'the unity' of a potential Palestinian state. According to Ibrahim, the Israeli objective is to ensure there is 'no Palestinian state on the ground' by the time Western and European countries recognise Palestine as a state. Israel would be 'cutting the West Bank into so many different sections, fragmenting them, creating what Palestinians have been calling as cantons,' she said, predicting that his would push Palestinians into 'very small, caged communities'. Widening crackdown in the West Bank The move comes amid a broader Israeli crackdown in the occupied West Bank. At least 30 Palestinians were arrested overnight across multiple cities including Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Authority's Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. Among those detained were two women, a female journalist, and several former prisoners. The commission said more than 18,500 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since Israel began its genocidal assault on Gaza in October 2023. In Bethlehem, residents of Beit Iskaria village received forced displacement notices this week as Israeli forces moved to seize more land for settlement expansion in the Gush Etzion bloc. According to village council head Muhammad Atallah, soldiers ordered him and his family to vacate grapevine-covered farmland within 10 days. Separately, Israeli forces carried out demolitions in the agricultural suburb near Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah, with reports that soldiers were accompanied by settlers. In Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem, a building under construction was demolished by Israeli military vehicles. According to rights groups, July alone saw 75 demolitions in the West Bank targeting 122 structures, including 60 homes and dozens of agricultural and livelihood facilities. Along with arrests and demolitions, Palestinians have also seen a rise in settler attacks in recent months. Armed settlers, often backed by Israeli soldiers, have rampaged through Palestinian villages, torched crops, vandalised homes, and assaulted residents with impunity, resulting in several Palestinian deaths. Rights groups and United Nations officials have warned that settler violence has reached record levels, part of what they describe as a coordinated campaign to forcibly displace Palestinians from key areas of the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities issued a six-month ban on Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territory, from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to the Wafa news agency, the Jerusalem governorate, quoting lawyer Khaldoun Najm, said the ban on Hussein follows the expiration of his eight-day ban. This most recent ban was imposed after his Friday sermon, where he condemned Israel's starvation policy against Palestinians in Gaza. Last week, Hussein was handed an initial eight-day expulsion order from the mosque.
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump slaps 50-percent tariff on Indian goods over imports of Russian oil
United States President Donald Trump has issued an executive order imposing an additional 25-percent tariff on goods from India, as penalty for importing Russian oil. Wednesday's hike comes in addition to the 25-percent tariff India already faces, making it subject to one of the US's highest import tax brackets under Trump, at a total of 50 percent. In his executive order, Trump explained that Russia's continued military actions in Ukraine constituted a 'national emergency' and it was therefore 'necessary and appropriate' to place heightened tariffs on India, a major consumer of its petroleum products. 'I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' Trump wrote. 'The actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.' The tariff increase is slated to come into effect 21 days after the announcement, leaving a window open for India and the US to negotiate a lower rate. But the move threatens to further complicate US-Indian relations. Brazil is the only other country to face a 50-percent overall tariff rate. India and the US engaged in five rounds of trade talks in the lead-up to Wednesday's announcement. In April, US Vice President JD Vance even travelled to New Delhi to help helm the negotiations. But months of haggling have failed to produce a trade agreement, and experts say US-India ties are now facing their most serious crisis in years. Wednesday's announcement coincides with reports that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit China for the first time in over seven years later this month. An Indian government source told the news agency Reuters that Modi would attend a security summit in the city of Tianjin, a sign of easing tensions with China, despite past clashes over borders and water rights. The White House move, first signalled by Trump on Monday, follows meetings by Trump's top diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow aimed at pushing Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine.
