PAK-IRAN RELATIONS

Arguments for successful relations:

 Iran was the first country to recognize Pakistan as an independent sovereign nation and the
Shah of Iran was the first Head of State to come on a State visit to Pakistan in March 1950

 There arose a boundary question as a result of confusions about their existing boundaries in
1947-49. But such was the nature of understanding between the two that the matter was
most amicably resolved in February 1958 and the final Protocol on Pak- Iran Boundary
Award was exchanged on August 31, 1960

 Iran's assisted in normalizing Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan and Malaysia in 1961 and
1965-66 respectively

 The choice of Nasrullah Entezam of Iran as Pakistan's nominee on the Run of Kutch Tribunal
in 1966-69 was another clear example of Pakistan's reliance and trust on Iran in her
international disputes

 Iran was able to quickly realize Pakistan's precarious position vis-a-vis the Soviet
intervention in Afghanistan which had placed the former in a central and dangerous
situation as a front- line state against the southwards drive of that ever-expanding
superpower: that was a nightmare for Pakistan. Satisfactorily enough, finally a consensus
developed between Iran and Pakistan on this sensitive issue, the common objective of the
two being the earliest possible withdrawal of the Soviet forces, numbering about 100,000,
from Afghanistan

 Iran also accepted Pakistan's leading mediatory role in the Islamic Peace Committee of the
OIC to end the Iran-Iraq war erupted on September 1, 1980.24 This clearly exemplified the
deep respect and regard that the Islamic regime had for Pakistan latter's new found US
connections notwithstanding

 The political change in Pakistan and the Islamic Revolution in Iran suited well to one another
and, therefore, no diplomatic and political cleavage occurred between them. Rather, the
two events turned out to be bonus for one another's already existing good relations

 Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto visited Iran on May 15, 1990, and December 8, 1993,
meeting President Hashemi Rafsanjani and other leaders.26 Likewise, former Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif paid visits to Iran during his both terms of office. In fact, it has
become a permanent feature of the Pakistani leaders to go to Iran in their first foreign visits.
President Rafsanjani visited Islamabad on September 6, 1992, while President Mohammad
Khatami has visited Pakistan in December 2002. All this clearly and vividly demonstrates
that the two countries are attaching great importance to their multifaceted relations,
 developed over the decades. They have not made their relations hostage to the divergent
perceptions

 Pak-Iran Joint Ministerial Commission, established in 1986, provides a useful institutional

framework for the identification of areas to promote economic and commercial
cooperation and to review and monitor the implementation of its various decisions. The
main areas of cooperation under the framework of the JMC include inter alia, industry,
banking, oil and gas, communications, manpower, agriculture, education, culture, and
science and technology

 the best thing between friends like Iran and Pakistan had been the candid acceptance of
differences of opinion instead of hiding behind or escaping them

Arguments for unsuccessful relations:

 The Iranians had seriously objected to Pakistan’s political and diplomatic support of the
Taliban during the 1990s and later. It was a compulsion for Pakistan to recognize a friendly
regime in the shape of Taliban in Afghanistan which was more a geopolitical rather than an
ideological requirement for Pakistan. But in doing so, Pakistan's relations with Iran started
seriously suffering

 The emergence of Central Asian Republics, in 1990-91, had apparently another area of
competition between the two countries for political and economic influence there,
according to many observers, at that time. Hence they were competing to gain more access
in this region. But this was not a matter of great concern between the two states.

 Pakistan’s very close relationship to the point of front-line ally with the United States has
always been disliked by the Iranians over the years. But they do understand the strategic
compulsions due to which Pakistan has entered in to this relationship with the US.

 Another matter that seriously harms Pak-Iran relations is the killing of Shia community
Muslims in Pakistan in sectarian violence and terrorism in Pakistan. In 1994 Sadiq Ganji, an
important Iranian killed in Pakistan strained the relations very much.

Evaluation / Judgment:

In view of the above arguments it can be said that on the whole Pak-Iran relations have
been quite successful between 1947 and 1999. There have been occasional moments of
tension but the relationship has overcome these tense times as Iran is the only country with
which Pakistan has had an age-old relationship, based on cultural, ethnic, and spiritual links.