- Prime Minister Shehbaz calls Dr. Pezeshkian and congratulates him on his victory.
- He says Pakistan and Iran are united by a shared history, faith, culture and traditions.
- Both leaders discuss regional issues and agree to continue coordination.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday conveyed his heartfelt wishes to Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, the president-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who recently won a runoff election prompted by the tragic death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's House, the Prime Minister telephoned Dr. Pezeshkian and congratulated him on his election victory.
In the elections, held on June 6, Pezeshkian will face Saeed Jalili in a tight race to become the country's next president. In his first remarks since being declared the winner of the runoff, Pezeshkian said he would “extend the hand of friendship to everyone.”
“As brotherly neighbouring countries, Pakistan and Iran are bound by a shared history, faith, culture and traditions,” the Prime Minister told Dr Pezeshkian.
Extending his good wishes to Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, the Prime Minister congratulated him and the brotherly people of Iran on the successful political transition through the democratic process.
Wishing the Iranian President-elect a successful term in office, the Prime Minister said he looked forward to working closely with him to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran relations and enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields including trade, energy and regional security.
Prime Minister Shehbaz added that the decisions taken jointly by both countries during the historic visit of late President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi in April 2024, had laid an excellent foundation for a mutually beneficial cooperative partnership between the two countries.
Expressing his wish to further deepen fraternal ties between the two sister nations, Dr. Pezeshkian thanked the Prime Minister for his congratulations.
The two leaders also discussed regional issues and agreed to continue close coordination and consultation.
The telephone conversation reflected the strong ties of friendship and brotherhood between Pakistan and Iran, and their shared commitment to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
Dr. Pezeshkian, 69, is a heart surgeon who has represented the northern city of Tabriz in parliament since 2008 and had the backing of his former boss and Iran's last reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, as well as former President Hassan Rouhani.
During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and doctor, was in charge of deploying medical teams to the front. He was health minister from 2001 to 2005, during Khatami's second term.
He lost his wife and one of his sons in a car accident in 1994. Dr. Pezeshkian raised his two surviving sons and one daughter alone, choosing never to remarry.
