• Tweeter
  • republish

This is the first visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to Iran (photo illustration). REUTERS / Thomas

Imran Khan began Sunday, April 21, a two-day visit to Iran. This is the first time he has visited his Iranian neighbor since taking office in July 2018. On Monday, he will meet with Iranian President Hassan Rohani.

With our correspondent in Islamabad , Sonia Ghezali

On the agenda of the discussions: " the fight against terrorism and the protection of borders ". A hot topic in the midst of intense tension between the two countries that share a 900-kilometer-long border crossing Baluchistan province, straddling Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

The predominantly Sunni Pakistan and Shiite Iran are constantly accusing each other of harboring terrorists who are behind attacks on their soil.

Three days ago, 14 passengers on a bus traveling in Pakistan's Balochistan province were killed by armed men claiming to be part of a Baloch separatist group. They came from Iran where they train in camps, said the Pakistani Foreign Minister.

In January, Iran accused Pakistan and its Saudi ally of supporting a jihadist group that was responsible for a suicide bomber attack on a convoy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, killing 27 people . The attack took place in the Sistan and Baluchistan region of Iran, near the border with Pakistan.

It is therefore in a context of strong diplomatic tensions that the Pakistani Prime Minister and the Iranian President will meet on Monday. Against the background, the war in Yemen in which Iran backs Houthi rebels against the Yemeni government backed by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a great ally of Pakistan.