ISLAMABAD – As tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf, Pakistan on Friday assured Iran that it would not provide any assistance to American forces in the event of a US attack on Tehran.
President Asif Ali Zardari held out the assurance during a trilateral summit here with his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai respectively, Geo News channel reported quoting its sources. Zardari said Pakistan would not provide its airbases to the US to launch an attack on Iran, according to the report.
The President said Pakistan and Iran “needed each other and no foreign pressure could hinder their ties,” the channel reported.
In a reference to the US pressure to abandon the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Zardari reportedly sent a message to the US “not to tell Pakistan who it can and cannot trade with.” There was no official word on Zardari’s reported comments.
However, a joint statement issued after the trilateral summit said the Presidents of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan had called for “non-interference and non-intervention” in their internal affairs.
The leaders further pledged to step up cooperation for eradicating terrorism and militancy and said they would not allow “any threat emanating from their respective territories against each other.” They also agreed to “commence trilateral consultations on an agreement in this regard,” the statement said without giving details.
Meanwhile, addressing a join press conference with Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Ahmadinejad said on Friday said all problems in the region were the result of foreign interference.
