The PM’s remarks came in the wake of a suicide bomb that killed 27 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in mid-February in a border area. Militant outfit Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice) had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Following the attack, the Iranian president had urged PM Khan to take “decisive” action against the militant group.
During the telephonic conversation, Rouhani has said that Iran is awaiting “decisive” action against these militant groups.
Rouhani has further said that the friendship and bilateral ties between the countries should not be affected by the actions of small militant outfits.
In reply, PM Khan said that it is in Pakistan’s interest to not let the terrorist groups use the country’s soil.
He assured Rouhani that the Pakistan Army is ready to confront the terrorists more decisively as soon as more information is provided by Iran.
The premier further said that the armed forces had come close to terrorists’ camps, assuring that there would soon be “good news” for Iran.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) official page also shared that the premier had a telephonic conversation with the Iranian president "as part of his contacts to brief important regional countries and their leadership about the regional situation".
Moreover, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has also said that both leaders reiterated the pertinence of furthering bilateral relations, adding that the premier would soon visit Iran.
The FO also said that the premier also condoled the terrorist attack, and both leaders vowed to fight against terrorism.
Khan also expressed gratitude towards the Iranian leadership for supporting the Kashmir cause.
Pakistan is also under pressure to take strict action against militant outfits in order to escape from being placed on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) blacklist.
To comply with FATF’s demands, Pakistan will have to reassess militant outfit rankings and for this purpose the government has recently placed many terror outfits on high-risk, removing their previous moderate or low-risk status. The government has also decided to start monitoring and re-examining the banned outfits’ activities and profiles under heightened security checks at all layers of legal, administrative, investigative and financial regimes.