After President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Pakistan, the Islamabad government inked economic and security agreements with Iran. As a result, the US has issued a warning to Pakistan about the potential hazards associated with sanctions. According to US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, anyone thinking about doing business with Iran should be aware of the possible danger of sanctions, he told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. In the end, the Pakistani government is able to discuss its own foreign policy initiatives.
The warnings coincided with the imposition of sanctions by Washington last week on four Chinese and Belarusian suppliers to Pakistan's ballistic missile development. Regarding the penalties, Patel stated that the US will keep up its "disruptive" efforts and take action against weapons of mass destruction and proliferation networks.
Pakistan has been attempting to resurrect an Iranian gas pipeline project that has been shelved for many years because of the possibility of US sanctions. When questioned about the Pakistan-Iran pipeline last month, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu stated in a congressional hearing that the Biden administration will maintain all sanctions pertaining to Iran.
Pakistan intends to ask for the pipeline restrictions to be waived. Both nations agreed in a joint statement issued on Wednesday following Raisi's departure from Pakistan on the "importance of cooperation in the energy domain," which includes the project involving the gas pipeline. According to Shaista Tabassum, a professor at the University of Karachi, the US will undoubtedly object to Pakistan and Iran becoming closer.
Eight agreements, including the creation of a special economic zone, were signed in Islamabad in front of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Raisi, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. After launching missiles at one another in January to target jihadist hideouts on each side of their shared border, the two nations are now attempting to mend fences.
During a press conference on Monday, Raisi stated that Pakistan and Iran must increase their bilateral commerce to approximately $10 billion during the next three to four years.Pakistan's Interior Ministry said in a separate statement that Iran and Pakistan decided this week to outlaw terror organizations that operate on each other's territory. On Wednesday, Raisi, the first Iranian president to visit Islamabad in eight years, came to an end. His visit was an effort to strengthen bonds and create a cordial relationship again, according to Madiha Afzal, a Brookings Institution foreign policy fellow.
