ISLAMABAD, May 11: Iran’s First Vice-President Parviz Dawoudi and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will be coming here later this month for consultations with the top Pakistani leadership on key issues including the international standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The Iranian foreign minister will be here on May 24 for the Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic Commission meeting that begins the following day. He will be leading the Iranian delegation at the talks.

Mr Dawoudi will arrive here on May 25 on his first official visit to Pakistan. Significantly, his visit also marks the first highest level contact between the two governments in Islamabad after Iranian President Ahmadinejad assumed office last year.

During their stay in the capital Mr Mottaki and Mr Dawoudi will hold wide-ranging talks with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, officials here said.

The back-to-back visits of the top Iranian government leaders acquire special significance in the backdrop of President Ahmadinejad’s letter to US President George Bush this week.

The sources told Dawn that at the meetings with the Iranian First Vice President and foreign minister detailed discussions will be held on Tehran’s latest diplomatic overture to defuse the brewing crisis over its controversial nuclear programme. The Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project will also figure prominently in the talks that will cover all aspects of bilateral relations particularly economic ties, regional and international issues, sources said.

Notably, throughout the Iranian nuclear crisis Tehran has turned to Pakistan for advice. Iranian President Ahmadinejad met President Musharraf during the UN General Assembly session in September 2005.