May 16-2014
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi told Pakistan’s prime minister Monday to keep “wicked” US influence at bay and build stronger ties with Iran. He also accused Washington of trying to create a rift between Tehran and Islamabad, the Fars news agency reported.
The Iran Times did not see this theme reported by the Pakistani media, so it wasn’t clear if Khamenehi really issued such a lecture. The Iranian media often report Iranian officials touting pure lines of propaganda in meetings with foreign visitors who are unlikely to be impressed by political verbiage.
While meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khamenehi said, according to Fars: “There are hands at work that intend to cause differences between the two friendly and intimate nations through different methods, including stirring insecurity at the lengthy common borders.”
“But we should not allow the big opportunity existing for the expansion of the relations between our two countries to be lost,” he said.
“America, whose wickedness is known to all, is among the governments trying to make distance between Iran and Pakistan. Besides America, there are other governments at work too,” Kha-menehi was quoted as saying.
His implication was that the recent spate of kidnappings and raids in Iran’s Sistan va Ba-luchestan province were sparked by Westerners rather than Baluchi rebels, a view considered laughable by Sharif.
Fars said Khamenehi underlined the need to complete the gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan, for which the Rohani Administration recently canceled the loan that had been promised by its predecessor.
The import of gas appears doomed in the face of US sanctions. But Iran has warned that if Pakistan fails to meet its obligation to start buying gas in December, then it will have to pay the Islamic Republic a penalty of almost $200 million a month.
According to the Pakistani state-run news agency APP, Prime Minister Nawaz and Khamenehi discussed issues relating to mutual and bilateral interest.
