[caption id="attachment_21019" align="alignright" width="210"] Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari[/caption]
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has congratulated Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani on his victory in Irans 11th presidential election, saying that Islamabad seeks to develop ties with the new administration of Iran.
In a telephone conversation with Rohani, Zardari said that his election by the Iranian people as the next president of the Islamic Republic of Iran indicated the Iranian nations confidence in the president-elect.
Rohani is capable of leading Iran toward peace, progress and welfare during his tenure as the Iranian president, Zardari said.
The Pakistani president also hoped that under Rohanis presidency, Iran will continue its rapid progress and that the president-elect will play an active role in regional peace and stability.
He said that the two nations of Iran and Pakistan enjoy historical and religious commonalities and expressed hope that Tehran-Islamabad ties would further develop in the future.
Pakistani officials will try to boost cooperation with the new administration of the Islamic Republic in different sectors, Zardari said.
In a congratulatory message released on Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also felicitated Rohani on his victory and called for the expansion of ties with the Islamic Republic.
Rohani won Irans June 14 presidential election with an outright victory, gaining 18,613,329 votes, or 50.7 percent of a total of 36,704,156 ballots.
Nearly 50.5 million Iranians, including more than 1.6 million first-time voters, were eligible to participate in the presidential election. The voter turnout in the election was 72.7 percent, according to the Interior Ministry.