Iranian and Pakistani Navy Commanders underlined the need for expanding cooperation in military and defense fields on the sidelines of the 6th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) which took place in Tehran last week, Fars News Agency (FNA) reported.
Hosted by Navy of Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the two-day event has brought together 35 high-ranking military delegations from across the world, including India, Turkey, and Australia.
During their meeting, Commander of Iran’s IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi and Pakistani Navy Commander Admiral Mahmoud Abbasi (photo) explored avenues for bolstering and broadening of bilateral relations, particularly in the naval fields.
Admiral Fadavi expressed joy with good interaction and cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces in line with their common interests, and said that since Iran and Pakistan are located in the same region, any insecurity will affect both of them.
Admiral Abbasi, for his part, appreciated Iran’s measures to safeguard regional waters security, noting that Iran and Pakistan have had good historic communications since the ancient times on the basis of Islam and Persian language.
Iranian and Pakistani Navies held joint military drills in the Southern waters of the Sea of Oman in 2017.
“Iran’s Jamaran destroyer was joined by a second missile-launch warship and a helicopter along with Pakistan’s fleet, including Tipu Sultan destroyer and its entourage in a joint drill in the Sea of Oman,” Commander of First Naval Zone Rear Admiral Hossein Azad told reporters at the time.
He said that the drill exercised airlifting, navy transportation, vertical exchanges, and host of other operations.
Rear Admiral Sayyari also held a separate meeting with Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Admiral Hiroshi Yamamura on the sidelines of the same conference.
During the meeting, he called for holding joint military drills between the two countries.
Rear Admiral Sayyari also underscored Iran’s preparedness to host Japanese warships and dispatch Iranian flotilla of warships to Japan.
For his part, Yamamura expressed the hope that military ties between Tehran and Tokyo would further expand, saying: “Certainly, we should take long strides in this regard.”
