by Asif Shahzad and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s foreign minister, who spoke by telephone with his Iranian counterpart on Friday, expressed his willingness to work with Tehran “in a spirit of mutual trust”, following an abrupt access tension between the two countries.
Iran denounced Pakistani airstrikes on its territory on Thursday, two days after a similar attack launched by Tehran on Pakistani soil.
According to a statement from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian.
“Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani expressed Pakistan’s readiness to work with Iran on all issues, in the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation,” according to the statement, which underlined the need for closer cooperation on security issues.
The meeting followed a call between Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Turkish counterpart, during which Islamabad said “Pakistan has no interest or desire for escalation.”
Tension between the two countries rose a notch this week as Pakistan bombed what it presented as armed separatist bases in Iran on Thursday in retaliation for a similar action by Tehran two days earlier on Pakistani territory.
Iran said Thursday’s strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children, while Pakistan said Tuesday’s Iranian attack killed two children.
These reciprocal attacks take place in a context of great instability marked in particular by the war between Israel and Hamas since October.
(Reporting Asif Shahzad and Gibran Peshimam, written by Sudipto Ganguly; French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Sophie Louet)
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