Zardar arrives in Iran for talks

TEHRAN: President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with officials, state television said, less than a month after the two countries agreed to cooperate with Afghanistan to fight against militants.

His earlier visit had been to attend a counter-terrorism summit, on the sidelines of which the three countries reached an anti-militant cooperation agreement.

"After the conference and the tripartite Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan meeting, we decided to pursue bilateral relations," said Iranian Foreign Minister Ramin Mehmanparast, quoted on state television.

Zardari is due to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ali Khamenei in a visit aimed at "widening horizons of multi-dimensional cooperation," Tahmina Janjua, a spokeswoman of Pakistan's foreign office, said.

"Pakistan attaches special significance to joining efforts of immediate neighbours in an endeavour to bring peace to Afghanistan and to reversing the tide of terrorism that has afflicted the region," she said.

Zardari's visit, on which he was to be accompanied by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, also comes after Washington announced it was deferring $800 million in military aid to Islamabad while it sought better defence cooperation.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011