TEHRAN- Iran has no restrictions on expanding ties with Pakistan, according to Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who also said Islamabad holds a particular position in Tehran’s foreign policy.

The senior diplomat made the comments on Saturday while speaking with Pakistan’s visiting Foreign Secretary, Asad Majeed Khan who was in Tehran for a meeting.

The current state of the bilateral ties, Amir Abdollahian said, is good and geared toward future growth.

He also praised Pakistan and Iran’s ongoing bilateral and international cooperation.

The Iranian foreign minister spoke about the history of the two nations’ connections, noting that there were many points of agreement between them, and urged both nations to use all their resources to develop their ties.

Amir Abdollahian cited a recent meeting between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, during which the leaders unveiled two significant border projects, and maintained that Pakistan served as a crucial link in Iran’s diplomatic relations with its neighbors.

The Pakistani diplomat, for his part, sent greetings of Shehbaz Sharif to Amir Abdollahian and informed him of the details of the most recent round of political negotiations between the two nations.

Khan placed stress on the significance of strengthening the relationship between the two neighbors and saw the consultations as strategic importance to the future growth of the countries’ relations.

In the meantime, the diplomat gave Amir Abdollahian an invitation from his country’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto to visit Pakistan.

Tehran and Islamabad have been attempting to improve their relationship in recent years, particularly their economic connections and cooperative efforts to fight terrorism in the regions that cross their shared border.

Pakistan imported non-oil products worth $1.488 billion from Iran in the preceding Iranian calendar year, which concluded on March 20. Pakistan was Iran's fifth-largest export market.

In 2017, Iran increased its non-oil imports from Pakistan by 170 percent to $842 million.

Iran, Pakistan conduct consultations

Also, in a meeting between Majeed Khan and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani, the sides discussed a wide variety of topics, including political, economic, military, and security cooperation.

The senior diplomats held a consultative conference on Saturday.

The two officials also spoke over recent regional and global events.

They decided to set up committees to increase collaboration in several sectors and carry out already-stalled accords.

Back in April, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mohammad-Ali Hosseini and Pakistan’s Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar discussed the ways to increase trade between the two countries.

Expressing their satisfaction that the trade between the two countries exceeded $2 billion, the two sides emphasized the need to take more effective steps to strengthen economic cooperation and help expand trade relations.

During the meeting, the Pakistani minister said that his country attaches great importance to its relations with the friendly and brotherly country of Iran.

Appreciating the efforts of the Iranian ambassador during his diplomatic mission in Pakistan in order to strengthen the brotherly ties between the two neighboring countries, Senator Ishaq Dar praised the measures taken especially in the commercial and economic fields.

Expressing their satisfaction with the value of trade between Iran and Pakistan, which has exceeded two billion dollars, the two sides emphasized the need to identify new ways to help increase trade and develop economic cooperation.

Emphasizing the country’s economic outlook, Pakistan’s finance minister expressed confidence that despite economic challenges, Pakistan is on the path of progress and development.