ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday that its trade with other countries, including Iran, is carried out in accordance with global trade regulations and international law, adding that it continues to remain engaged with the United States on trade matters.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said this at his weekly media briefing. When asked whether Pakistan would be subject to the 25 percent tariff announced by President Trump on countries that conduct trade with Iran, Andrabi said, “This is an evolving development. We have taken note of the US announcement, and Pakistan remains engaged with US authorities on trade matter.”
He said that Pakistan’s trade with other countries is conducted in accordance with international trade regulations. Pakistan has had very positive trade negotiations with the United States. “We look forward to the successful culmination in reaching mutually beneficial trade agreements with the United States,” he remarked.
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While referring to unrest in Iran and its heightened tensions with the United States, the spokesperson said Pakistan was “closely following the developments”. He stressed that Pakistan attaches “great importance” to Iran, as a neighbouring country and as an important player of the international community.
He stated, “Pakistan hopes that peace and stability will prevail, and we reaffirm our support for all efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the situation.”
He said that the livelihood and financial support measures announced by the Iranian government for traders and the general public will help alleviate the hardship faced by Iranians. “We offer our best wishes towards that endeavour. A stable and peaceful Iran, free from domestic unrest, is in Pakistan’s interest,” Andrabi said.
He urged Pakistanis to reconsider their travel plans for Iran, keeping in mind the Foreign Office recent travel advisory and exercising “extreme caution to ensure their safety and security.” He reaffirmed Pakistan that it would not permit its airspace to be used to carry out attacks against any other country.
The spokesperson said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has seen the brief statements by the US State Department on their social media handle about the suspension of immigration visas for different countries, including Pakistan. He hoped that the routine processing of immigrant visas will resume soon. We are in touch with the US authorities to ascertain further details as it is an evolving news, which we are following, he added.
Andrabi rejected the allegations by the Indian Army Chief regarding the existence of terror camps in Pakistan. “The continuing clichéd, habitual, and delusional Indian rhetoric is a regrettable attempt to exploit the bogey of terrorism for narrow political gains,” he added. He said that India continued to be involved in espionage and terrorism against Pakistan through the facilitation and financing of terrorist proxies operating against the country, including from Afghanistan, as well as through extraterritorial assassinations, and that “India’s state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan is well documented”.
The spokesperson condemned the conviction of prominent Kashmiri political leader and activist, Asiya Andrabi Sahiba, along with her two associates, Fehmida Sofi Sahiba and Nahida Nasreen Sahiba, by a Delhi court in yet another “fabricated case and after sham trials”. He said that the conviction of Fehmida Sofi Sahiba and Nahida Nasreen Sahiba further evidences the consistent and systematic invocation of “draconian legal provisions to criminalize legitimate Kashmiri advocacy for human rights and fundamental freedoms, with the manifest objective of entrenching and “perpetuating India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir”. He rejected any proposal for the dislocation of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed Pakistan’s principled commitment to an independent, contiguous, and sovereign State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
He accused India of systematic invocation of draconian legal provisions to criminalize legitimate Kashmiri advocacy for human rights and fundamental freedoms, with the manifest objective of entrenching and perpetuating India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
On the closure of Pak-Afghan border, the spokesperson said from trade perspective, some traders have indeed suffered losses, and, in economic terms, there has certainly been some deficit. However, from a security standpoint, if the border closure has helped stop incursions from the Afghan side and prevented attacks on border posts, it represents a gain.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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