Pakistan, Iran agree on rights cooperation

Islamabad : Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday agreed to increase bilateral support and cooperation to address economic and human rights issues in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

The agreement came during a meeting between Iranian ambassador Seyed Mohamad Ali Hosseini and Pakistani human rights minister Dr. Shireen Mazari in the latter's office here.

The minister welcomed the ambassador and said both Iran and Pakistan had strong cultural, historical and religious ties since the creation of Pakistan 74 years ago.

"We value our relationship with Iran and there is need to revitalise our cooperation to raise globally our collective concerns for the human rights," she said.

While discussing the confronted challenges to the region and particularly to Iran, the ambassador said Iran was facing one sided sanctions even after fulfilling all international commitments to its nuclear program.

He said Afghanistan was undergoing a terrible disaster in which both Iran and Pakistan had been hosting millions of Afghan refugees for the last 40 years.

"Iran is endlessly extending its assistance to Afghan people who are facing the worst humanitarian crisis. Currently, Iran is not getting any international assistance to tackle with the issues of refugees, human trafficking and drug trafficking even in the face of serious economic difficulties due to sanctions," he said.

The federal rights minister said the Pakistani government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan had raised voice against hypocrisy and double standard of western countries that are committing human rights violations under the Islamophobic trends.