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Title: Pakistan Vows To Stand with Iran if US, Israel Attack
Source:
CommonDreams
URL Source: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/18-0?print
Published: Feb 18, 2012
Author: CommonDreams
Post Date: 2012-02-18 13:39:32 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 455
A clear message has been given to the United States through the tripartite summit of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan that Pakistan will support Iran in case of any possible aggression against it. * * * The Nation newspaper (Lahore, Pakistan) reports: ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will not assist the US if it attacks Iran, Islamabad Friday assured Tehran. Pakistan will not provide Americans airbases to launch attack on its neighbor, President Asif Ali Zardari said after the third trilateral summit of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. At the summit the three states expressed their resolve to work collectively for peace and stability in the region and enhancement of mutual cooperation in different sectors, particularly economy and trade. “Pakistan and Iran need each other and no foreign pressure can hinder their ties.” This is the first categorical assurance of support to Tehran from the highest echelons of Islamabad, whose own ties with the Washington came under a severe strain in November last year after NATO airstrikes on two Pakistani Army checkposts in Mohmand Agency killed over two dozen soldiers prompting Islamabad to take steps including stopping the passage of NATO supplies through the country and boycott of an international conference on Afghanistan. About international pressure on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, the head of the state facing chronic energy shortages, said Pakistan is lobbying the world and our point of view has been looked at and accepted. A private TV channel reported that Tehran has offered Islamabad to double the gas supply promised under Iran-Pakistan gasline project. Zardari said Iran and Pakistan are neighbors and both the countries need to inter-depend on each other for prosperity of the region. Iranian President Mehmood Ahmadinejad said several of the problems have been imposed on the region by outside forces. “There are countries which have targeted our region for their dominance.” He advocated for enhancing regional cooperation and putting in use all resources to address these problems. Ahmadinejad also said that nuclear-armed nations were not superior to others, a day after his sanctions-hit government told world powers it was ready to resume stalled atomic talks. “(The) nuclear bomb is not going to bring about superiority,” he told while addressing the predominantly English-speaking audience through a translator. Ahmadinejad said Iran’s relationship with nuclear-armed Pakistan was an example of an alliance that “is not because of nuclear bomb or weapons… The foundation of our political relationship is humanitarian and is based on common cultural values… Promoting peace and fraternity are the common goals of the three countries and our nations. We have got hopes to a victory in future.” [...]
Presidents from Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai (L), Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari (C) and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad join hands as they pose for pictures after a news conference in the President House in Islamabad February 17, 2012. Ahmadinejad said on Friday foreign interference was the source of all problems in the region. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed Moreover, Pakistan has clearly affirmed that the US will not be allowed to set up any airbases in Pakistan with the purpose of attacking Iran. The joint declaration says: "Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan will ensure respect of territorial sovereignty of each other and would not allow any threat emanating from their respective territories against each other".
- Pakistan President ZardariAddressing a joint news conference, along with his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai, President Zardari emphatically stated that Pakistan’s relationship with the brethren countries cannot be undermined by the international pressure of any kind. “Pakistan and Iran need each other and no foreign pressure can hinder their ties.”
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