UPDATE - Pakistan, Iran reiterate support to Gaza

UPDATES WITH JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY TWO LEADERS, CHANGES LEDE, HEADER, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan and Iran on Monday reiterated their support for Palestinians' "resistance," and called upon the Muslim world to come up with a joint strategy to bring an end to the ongoing "genocide" in Gaza.

Addressing a joint news conference after a delegation-level meeting in Islamabad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lamented that the international community, including the UN Security Council (UNSC), has failed to stop Israeli "brutalities" in Gaza.

Raisi, who arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit on Monday, said the "Zionist regime" is committing "genocide" in the besieged enclave "with the support of America."

"We believe that all the international organizations, including the UN, have proved that they are inefficient, and cannot stop the brutalities being committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza," he went on to say.

“We also believe that Palestinians' struggle is very much attainable, and one day it will be achieved,” he maintained.

Echoing his views, Sharif said that Islamabad and Tehran together will continue to support Palestinians' freedom struggle.

He regretted that the UNSC has failed to implement even its own resolution that demands a cease-fire in Gaza.

“I call upon the entire Muslim world to adopt a joint strategy to bring an end to the war in Gaza and (subsequently) the creation of an independent Palestine state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital," he went on to say.

- Bilateral relations

Sharif thanked Tehran for its "continued" support for the people of disputed Jammu and Kashmir.

He was referring to the decades-long Kashmir dispute with arch-rival India.

Sharif said the two countries have discussed a variety of issues, including bilateral relations, security, trade and investment.

The two neighbors, he further said, can change their borders into business and trade hubs.

Raisi, for his part, said the two countries are committed to fighting terrorism and narcotics trade.

Terrorism, he added, is a common threat to not only Pakistan and Iran but the entire region.

The two countries inked eight memorandums of understanding, which include security cooperation and the creation of a joint free economic zone.

In a related development, a street in Islamabad was named "Iran Avenue."

Raisi will also visit Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership.