Momeni Holds Delegation Talks With Mohsin Naqvi On Arbaeen Pilgrim Transit, Border Security And Intelligence Sharing While Briefing Pakistan On The Regional Situation
According to The Nation, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Islamabad on July 20 for a day-long official visit carrying a special message from Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian for Pakistan’s top leadership, as the two neighbouring countries intensify high-level consultations amid the escalating Iran-United States conflict.
Momeni held delegation-level talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and also called on Pakistan’s senior leadership during the visit. He conveyed President Pezeshkian’s message regarding the evolving regional situation and the ongoing conflict, reflecting Tehran’s close consultations with Islamabad during what has become the longest sustained US military campaign against Iran since the conflict began on February 28.
A key agenda item was the safe transit of Pakistani pilgrims travelling through Iran to Karbala, Iraq, for the Arbaeen pilgrimage later this year. The two sides also discussed border management, counterterrorism, anti-smuggling measures and intelligence sharing along the Pakistan-Iran shared border.
The visit comes as the US bombed Iran for a ninth consecutive night, with strikes expanding for the first time to Tabriz in Iran’s northwest; making Tehran’s diplomatic outreach to Islamabad all the more strategically significant.
Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre border with Iran and maintains $900 million in bilateral trade. It has carefully positioned itself as a country with channels to both Tehran and Washington; the Islamabad Talks of April 2026 that led to the now-collapsed ceasefire were its most visible diplomatic win of the year. Momeni’s visit suggests Tehran still sees Pakistan as a potential interlocutor in a conflict with no end in sight.
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan affairs on The Trusted Times.
