ISLAMABAD (Big Digit) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Pakistan; Bilateral trade hopes

ISLAMABAD (Big Digit) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkianis on a two-day official visit to Pakistan today, Saturday, August 2, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. There are hopes and expectations that the visit will further strengthen bilateral trade and brotherly relations between the two countries. In a post on X, the Iranian President’s political advisor Mehdi Sanai said that ‘Dr. Masoud Pezeshkianwill visit Pakistan on Saturday evening, August 2, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Official meetings and ‘talks with cultural and business figures’ will be part of the agenda during the visit. Pakistan-Iran relations span political, economic, religious and cultural aspects and the objectives of this visit include promoting provincial and border cooperation and increasing bilateral trade from the current $ 3 billion. Masoud Pezeshkian will be the second Iranian president to visit Pakistan in the last two years. This visit was originally scheduled for the last week of July. In April 2024, former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi paid a three-day official visit to Pakistan, a month before Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash. During this visit, he also visited Lahore and Karachi. A high-level delegation is also visiting Pakistan along with the Iranian president. A year after Pezzekian’s presidency, inflation is skyrocketing, load shedding continues, and restrictions on political freedoms are still in place. The gulf has deepened diplomatically, economically, and socially. If Iran’s leadership does not change its diplomatic course, the next crisis will arise. Remember that there was a 12-day war between Iran and Israel when on June 13, 2025, Israel directly attacked Iranian soil for the first time on a large scale, which was an unusual event in history. Severe airstrikes were carried out on several cities in Iran, in which a large number of civilians were killed. At a critical time when the nation needed leadership and courage, Masoud Pezeshkian emerged as a reliable leader. On several occasions in the past, Pakistan had faced intense US pressure on Iran, but Islamabad never severed ties with Tehran. Ishaq Dar had earlier told the Iranian news agency that President Peshkian’s visit to Pakistan was scheduled. Pakistan supports diplomacy and a prudent approach in the region and welcomes every effort to reduce tensions and hold talks with Iran. Pakistan cannot remain silent on the recent developments in Iran, especially the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Pakistan had condemned the Israeli government’s aggression against Iran and the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Pakistan had said that ‘diplomacy and dialogue are the only way out of the current situation,’ and Pakistan would continue to support both sides. It should be noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had visited Iran on May 27 as part of a regional tour to thank friendly countries during the recent dispute with India. On this occasion, he met with Iranian President Dr. Masoud Peshkeshkian and other senior leaders to further strengthen bilateral relations and promote regional cooperation. Earlier, he had also visited Iran in May 2024, where he attended the memorial ceremony of former President Ebrahim Raisi and met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Masoud Peshkeshkian is an Iranian heart surgeon and reformist politician who is currently the elected President of Iran. Previously, Peshkeshkian represented the Tabriz, Osco and Azarshahr electoral districts in the Iranian Parliament . He was the Minister of Health and Medical Education between 2001 and 2005 in the government of Mohammad Khatami. He ran in the 2013 presidential election, but withdrew, and ran again in the 2021 election, but was rejected. Pezhakian qualified in 2024 and won the presidential election on July 5, 2024. Iran was the first country in the world to recognize Pakistan after the partition of India, while Pakistan was the first country to recognize the government there after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Pakistan and Iran signed a ‘Friendship Treaty’ in 1950, and Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan visited Tehran in 1949, while the Shah of Iran paid his first official visit to Pakistan after the formation of Pakistan in 1950. Historically, Iran has reiterated Pakistan’s position on important issues, including Kashmir, at every forum that are important in Pakistan’s foreign policy. Iran also openly supported Pakistan in the wars between Pakistan and India in 1965, 1971, and 2025, and Islamabad received diplomatic support from Tehran. Despite tensions and difficulties on a few occasions and issues, Pakistan-Iran relations have generally remained friendly. Despite major changes in Iran’s foreign and domestic policies, its relations with Pakistan have remained good.The Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project was inaugurated by the presidents of Pakistan and Iran in March 2013. No international financial institution is willing to invest in the project due to concerns about UN sanctions. Iran was very grateful to Pakistan when Pakistan provided Iran with important information to arrest Abdulmalek Rigi, the head of the Jundallah organization involved in extremist activities in Iran. Remember that in July 2024, when Masoud Peshmerga entered the presidential palace the day after being sworn in as the president of Iran, he was killed just hours later by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was attending the Iranian president’s swearing-in ceremony as a special guest, in an Israeli air strike. The attack on Ismail Haniyeh took place in the heart of Tehran. This extraordinary incident shook the entire region and proved to be the beginning of the most uncertain period in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Masoud Peshmerga came to power after a national tragedy. His predecessor, President Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash along with Iran’s foreign minister. His moderate tone, soft stance on the hijab and social restrictions, and his promise of dialogue rather than confrontation with the West offered a glimmer of hope for a country weighed down by international sanctions. But within months of his presidency, Israel launched a series of devastating attacks on Iran, culminating in a US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. These developments have further weakened Iran’s already fragile economy. The country is facing severe energy and water shortages. In Iran, the president runs the government but does not rule. Unlike in many other countries, the president of Iran is not the most powerful person in the country. Under the Islamic Republic’s constitution, real power rests with the Supreme Leader. Since 1989, that position has been held by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final authority over the military, judiciary, intelligence agencies, and especially foreign policy.

Peshmerga is president, but his power is always limited to the unelected power centers of the regime, such as the Revolutionary Guards, the Supreme Leader’s Council, and the office of the Supreme Leader. And when it comes to diplomacy, whether on the nuclear program or responding to regional tensions, Peshmerga often acts as a spokesperson rather than a decision-maker, presenting decisions that have been made elsewhere. In his first term, Trump brought Iran-US relations to a head of state. He unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal that had been worked out over years, imposed tough economic sanctions, and ordered the assassination of Iran’s most powerful military commander, General Qassem Soleimani. Israel soon intensified its military operations against Iran’s allies in the region: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi group in Yemen. Tensions and confrontations continued throughout the year. Peshmerga assumed office at a time when Peshmerga was in power. A moderate leader who came to power in the midst of a major conflict but had no power to change the situation. Iran strongly condemned the new sanctions imposed by the United States, calling them illegal, cruel and an open act of hostility against the Iranian nation. The spokesman said that the US sanctions aim to weaken Iran and violate the fundamental rights of the Iranian people. It is worth noting that the US has added Reza Amiri-Moghadam, the current Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, to its list of most wanted persons, accusing him of kidnapping its special agent. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Reza Amiri-Moghadam and two other Iranian officials of involvement in the kidnapping of a retired American special agent from the Iranian island of Kish in 2007.