They were speaking at an international webinar titled "Abraham Accords, Arab-Indian-Israel-USA nexus a common threat to security of Iran, Pakistan and the region" organized by Golden Ring Economic Forum (GREF) in collaboration with Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), and Political Science Department of University of Management and Technology (UMT).
Emphasizing the use of regional capacity to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations, the speakers called for the vigilance of key regional actors, including Iran and Pakistan, in the face of the consequences of a reconciliation plan between Tel Aviv and some Arab states in the region and US-Israel nexus.
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Ijaz Mehmood Malik said that Iran has always retained important position in region. Iran has always been a challenge for those countries who want to influence this region.
He said that Pakistan needs to have balanced ties with both Iran and Saudi Arabia, adding that it needs to build people-to-people contact between Iran and Pakistan.
Referring to the important geographical location of Chabahar and Gwadar ports, Dr Zainab Ahmed, the senior research fellow at GREF, said in her views that the two are sister ports and their cooperation would open new avenues of geo-economics. She added that Pakistan plays an important role in mending Iran-Saudi Arabia ties.
The expert viewed Iran-India ties could help reduce tensions between Pakistan and India, noting that both Iran and Pakistan have been impacted by the situation of Afghanistan.
Hassan Reza Naqvi, another speaker, said that Iran is a strong country and is in a position to counter NATO. He said unfortunately some Arab countries have always defended Zionist’s interests in the region. He said that downfall of Zionist regime is near.
** Zionist regime root cause of all problems
Dr. Khaled Qadomi, the representative of Islamic Resistance (Hamas) in Tehran, said that normalization of ties with the Zionist regime should be condemned strongly.
He added illegal state of Israel wants to control more people and that more land ties with them would not benefit any country in the region. He said the Zionist regime is behind all regional problems; look how they assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists.
The Palestinian leader said that today’s Turkey is more close to Iran asking why we should have relations out of region.
** The compromise with Zionist regime targeted Palestine
Former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said that Abraham Accord is a brainchild of Trump and that Palestine was the first target of that deal. He said unfortunately some Arab countries have established ties with Zionist regime.
Khokhar said that Trump’s tenure was disastrous, adding that after the setback in Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden is slowing down in the Middle East and focusing more on China and Russia through a huge containment ring. He strongly believed containment of China is rather a foolish policy.
The former top diplomat said that Zionist regime has been made in charge of the region. He said that Biden has talked about coming back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but they are slightly pursuing a tough stance towards Iran nuclear deal.
He termed talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia as a positive development, adding that ultimately both Muslims countries have to normalize their ties and Pakistan cannot do much in this regards.
Khokhar said the US is no more on Euro-Asia region, noting that Iran and Pakistan are brothers and don’t have border issues.
He said there are good prospects of Iran-Pakistan ties and that the US doesn’t want to see CPEC flourish and the India Ocean will become the focus of major issues.
Hassan Zarnegar, an Iranian researcher, said that the Zionist regime is in war against the regional countries and Iran-US tension is in the interest of the Zionist regime, adding that Zionist regime is trying to normalize ties with Arab states, but many Muslim countries like Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Malaysia are against that.
He said the so-called deal of the century is an attempt to violate the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. He was confident that the Zionist regime will fail in its evil designs against Muslims.
** The United States is responsible for the situation in Afghanistan
Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal, the chairman of GREF, said that the US has failed miserably in Afghanistan, noting that Pakistan is carefully observing the changes in the region.
He added the US has discredited Pakistan and blamed the country for its failures in Afghanistan, noting that the US is pressurizing Pakistan through FATF against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He said that those who stayed in Afghanistan for 20 years have created a humanitarian crisis in the country through irresponsible withdrawal. He went on to say that Pakistan is trying to bring stability in Afghanistan.
He also said that regional countries must establish a common trading consortium and ease visa requirements.
Expressing his views, Professor of Politics and International Relations at Quaid-e-Azam University Dr. Syed Qandeel Abbas said that it is a matter of great concern that the UAE who is member of the OIC is under the influence of Zionist regime.
He said the presence of the Zionist regime near Iran is another problem. He added Iran and Pakistan need to re-plan and re-establish ties and devise a common strategy to stop Zionist advancements in the region. He said China-Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan can jointly counter the US plans in region.
Hasnain Reza Mirza. the president and founder of Golden Ring Economic Forum, said that establishment of border markets between Iran and Pakistan is a positive development, but they need to be operational as soon as possible.
He noted the region is going through different developments adding that many countries, including the US, want to dominate the Indian Ocean and whoever controls Pakistan will dominate the region because of its geographic location.
He said that Pakistan provides the shortest exit of Russia and China to the Indian Ocean. He added Iran and Pakistan are close neighbors and need to be stabilized that is why the security of both is extremely important.
Golden Ring Economic Forum (GREF) was established in 2015 in Lahore, Pakistan, with a number of retired military, diplomats and retired economic officials, focusing on advancing regional economic cooperation with Iran, Pakistan, China, Russia, and Turkey.
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