ISLAMABAD: Dr. Kazem Sajjadpour, Head of Center for International Research and Education Iran has said that Iran-Pak relations are free from the influence of other states. He was speaking on “Iran and its surroundings” organised by Institute of Strategic Studies here on Wednesday. Dr. Sajjadpour said that Iran is neighbour to16 countries, which is second most neighboured country in the world. Iran is living in a difficult region, where civil wars and a lot of security concerns plagued her. Syria is facing civil war, Saudi Arabia is showing hostility and Afghanistan is facing wars and instability for almost three decades. But in spite of all this Iran wants to live with peace and harmony with her neighbours. He said Pakistan is an important brotherly neighbour and friend. “We have a lot of things common among the two states like religion, culture and history,” he added. He said that the motto of the Iranian revolution was independence, freedom and forming an Islamic republic. Before the revolution Iran’s foreign policy was influenced by foreign powers, but now it is independent. Iran was also not dependent upon others for her security. He said that Iran always condemned inhuman behavior at every forum, especially when Muslims were the victim of it. On Saudi-Iran rivalry, he said that in recent past, Saudi Arabia had shown hostile attitudes towards Iran but Iran always responded with maturity. But now Saudi Arabia was also facing the criticism of the European media. He said that Iran was a democratic country and wanted to unite the Muslim world. Iran did not want a rivalry on the basis of sectarian lines. He said no one could find even a single statement in international media made by Iran that inflamed sectarian tensions. “First Saddam Hussein and now some other people are trying to build our image as a state based on theocracy but this is not correct” he added. He said Iran, Pakistan and Turkey had constituted RCD, which now changed into ECO. It was for regional development and cooperation. He agreed that more cooperation was needed in the field of science and technology through ECO. On the occasion, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost said that Iran and Pakistan were trying to enhance bilateral trade and its volume would be increased to USD 5 billion. He said that both countries were also working on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, and Iran was also providing electricity to Pakistan. He said cooperation between Chambers of Commerce and formation of Joint Economic Commission between both countries was also under discussion. “Tehran and Islamabad have also agreed for a five year strategic plan for partnership. He said that in the meeting of both sides’ Foreign Secretaries, which was held recently in Tehran, an agreement was reached for more promotion of relations and economic cooperation. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman ISSI Board of Governors and former Ambassador Khalid Mahmood said that Iran always supported Pakistan on Kashmir issue. He said that the healthy competition between two important ports of the region including Chabahar and Gawader was positive and enhanced business activities. “We should not allow foreign powers to interfere in our affairs” he concluded.