Tehran, Iran, Dec.1
Trend:
Economically, Iran and Pakistan need each other, expert on Pakistan-related issues Pir- Mohammad Mollazehi told Trend.
"Pakistan especially needs Iran because it can profit from Iran's energy, but the US has created obstacles for these relations," he said.
The expert elaborated that the reason is the failure of economic organizations to extend the relations between Iran and Pakistan.
"In this case there is a major problem, the products of third world countries are almost the same, therefore to supply goods and services, these countries move toward Europe for further progress," he added.
"The approach is not limited to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), it is also obvious in other organizations in third world countries, except the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which has been successful," he said.
"The others didn't have such success, but it's not the only reason. Some part of it relates to the mentality of businessmen, for instance the Iranian merchants trade with the Western countries and are confident of about their commitments. Even the businessmen imports of palm oil from Malaysia through aid of Western mediators," he said.
"These two countries have around 1000 kilometers of border and have the power to fulfill each others needs, such as Pakistan, that needs Iran's electricity," Mollazehi said.
"During summer we had witnessed long hours of power cuts in big cities of Pakistan, but the initial problem against extended bilateral relations is the US pressure on Pakistan," he said.
"Considering the common historical and cultural backgrounds, the trade volume between the two countries has not been remarkable, although it was previously predicted that the volume would reach to $10 billion, but due to current situation the progress is unlikely, " he added.
"The initial solution for this case is something that both countries have, good potential to increase the capacities of border markets," he said.