Pakistan, Iran agree to expand cooperation in diverse fields

Zarif had last visited Pakistan in April this year, and discussed matters related to the Yemen crisis during his visit.

Assad, on the other hand, expressed his appreciation for the Iranian strong support for Syria.

A Turkish media outlet has reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to Turkey was postponed following claims that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s daughter Sümeyye runs a hospital in southeastern Turkey that treats Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

Zarif’s statements were carried by Al-Manar, the television of the powerful Lebanese Shiite group, which is supported by Iran.

Iran’s proposed peace plan on Syria is expected to be on the agenda of talks between Zarif and the Arab country’s officials.

He pointed to Iran-India relations, and said, ‘Iran has had very good relations with India as a big regional country and a member-state of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran on Thursday. Iran, Hezbollah and Russian Federation have been the biggest backers of the Assad regime throughout the deteriorating conflict.

The rebel shelling, apparently meant to send a message that Zarif was not welcome in Syria, began around the morning rush hour in Damascus with more than 50 shells striking the capital, including in the upper-class neighborhoods of Abu Rummaneh, Baramkeh and Qasaa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 120 people were injured in the raids, several of them seriously, and that the death toll was likely to rise. The Iranian FM said there had been unfortunate incidents where terrorists from the Pakistani side of the border had sneaked in and killed innocent people.

Hezbollah’s military role inside Syria has been growing steadily since the start of the conflict in 2011.

“We are ready to cooperate, exchange ideas, and work together with these nations to fight extremism, terrorism, and sectarianism”, he told reporters in Beirut. He added that Iran hopes for a positive outcome from the talks between the Afghan Taliban and Afghan government being mediated by Pakistan, which will help bring peace in the region. Sources familiar with the talks, which have been under way for weeks, said the truce could be extended to give time for ongoing negotiations aimed at evacuating civilians and combatants.