TEHRAN - Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri held a phone conversation with Pakistan’s new army chief, General Asim Munir. 

In the phone conversation, the Iranian general congratulated General Munir on taking charge as Pakistan’s new army chief, Tasnim reported. 

Highlighting the impact of cooperation between Iran and Pakistan on the security along the common border, Iran’s highest-ranking military commander called for the expansion of security and defense ties with the neighboring state, according to Tasnim. 

Stressing the need to promote defense and security cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, Major General Baqeri said the expansion of defense relations between the two neighbors will strengthen security along the common border.

The two commanders also weighed plans for continued cooperation between Iran and Pakistan in ensuring border security, the fight against terrorist groups, the expansion of economic activities in the border regions, and turning the common border into the border of friendship and fraternity.

The call also comes days after four IRGC members were killed in clashes near the border with Pakistan. The Sistan-Baluchistan provincial branch of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on Monday that four security forces lost their lives in clashes in the province.

In a statement on Monday, the IRGC said its provincial forces in the border region of Saravan clashed with members of a terrorist group that fled into Pakistan as a result of heavy fire from the IRGC. 

An IRGC officer named Mohammad Goudarzi and three Basij members identified as Rahim Bakhsh Paraki, Hamidreza Abedi, and Mahmoud Nik-Khah were martyred in the clashes, IRNA reported. 

The clashes come after deadly unrest in the restive province of Sistan-Baluchistan. During the recent wave of unrest that erupted in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini, dozens of individuals were killed in the province.