TEHRAN: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei and discussed with him issues of mutual interest. They agreed to work jointly for development of the region.

The prime minister said Pakistan-Iran relations had historical perspective and the two countries had common traditions. “These common bonds make our relationship special,” he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the people of Pakistan were as dear to him as the people of Iran. “I will offer special prayers so that our relationship reaches new bounds and heights.”

Mr Sharif’s visit, he said, would further boost brotherly relations.

The Ayatollah urged Pakistan to avoid US influence and build stronger ties with Iran. He blamed the US for sectarian violence in the Iranian-Pakistani border region that has strained relations.

He accused the United States and “some other governments” of plotting a rift between the two neighbours. “We do have information on certain movements along our long borders, with some trying to create insecurity, and we cannot believe these are unprovoked and accidental,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in comments carried by Iranian media.

He said the United States was among the countries trying to create gulf between Iran and Pakistan. Besides the US, other governments were also at work, he said referring to a recent spate of kidnappings and cross-border raids in Iran’s easternmost province of Sistan-Baluches­tan that have generally been claimed by Jaish al-Adl rebels.

The kidnapping of five Iranian border guards early this year brought Tehran and Islamabad to the verge of a conflict after Iranian Revolutionary guards threatened to chase the rebels inside Pakistan.

Relations have thawed, however, since four of the border guards were released under ambiguous circumstances, although the fifth was reported killed in captivity.

On his first official visit to Iran since his election as prime minister last May, Nawaz Sharif has pressed for steps to boost bilateral trade. It has sunk by one third to around $1 billion in recent years as Iran came under increasingly restrictive international sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme.

“We hope to see during your tenure a good movement in bilateral relations. One must not wait for permission from others to develop relations,” Ayatollah Khamenei told Mr Sharif, in apparent reference to the United States.

AGREEMENTS: Iran and Pakistan signed eight memoranda of understanding/agreements to enhance their cooperation in various fields. One of the agreements related to extradition of prisoners. It was signed by Iran’s Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, according to FARS news agency.

Prime Minister Sharif visited on Monday the mausoleum of Hazrat Imam Raza in Mashad. He was received by Governor General of Khorasan Razavi province and other high officials at the airport. The prime minister joined the ‘langar’ and ate food with general public at the mausoleum, offered ‘Nawafil’ and prayed for the prosperity of Pakistan.

Mr Sharif returned to Islamabad in the evening at the end of his two-day visit.—Agencies