MNA� Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami called for expansion of Iran, Pakistan relations and stated that bilateral defensive cooperation contributes to regional stability.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami met with Pakistani Minister for Defense Production Rana Tanveer Hussain Tuesday morning (January 16) in Tehran where he said that apart from having common borders, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan have deep historical, cultural and religious commonalities and added �Pakistan has a special place in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in region.�

Hatami asserted that the Islamic Republic of Iran stresses the expansion of relations with Pakistan in bilateral, regional areas and added �meetings between defensive, military authorities is a preliminary to the expansion of bilateral relations and strengthening stability and security in the region.�

Elsewhere in his speech, Hatami said that the US and the Zionist regime are the biggest and the most dangerous supporters of terrorism in region and extremism is the result of US regional policies, saying that the best way to counter such policies is cooperation among regional countries.

Hatami said that ISIL is still a regional, international threat to security and added �we believe that crises in Yemen and Syria cannot be resolved through military solutions and we must turn to negotiation and political approaches.�

Iranian Defense Minister called Pakistan a major country in the world of Islam and welcomed expansion of defensive, technical cooperation between the two countries.

Pakistani Minister for Defense Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said that Iran plays a vital role in the region and Pakistani support for this country in international community will increase regional security.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that stability and security in borders are preliminaries to economic, commercial cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad and stressed the necessity of increasing military cooperation.

Pakistani Minister for Defense Production pointed to the importance of bilateral cooperation on maritime industry and collaboration between Iranian and Pakistani ports, especially the port cities of Chabahar and Gwadar.