Speaking at a gathering of people in the mostly Sunni-populated province on Thursday evening at the end of his visit on Thursday evening, President Raeisi praised the unity and integration that exists between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the vast province in the southeast.

“In the current situation, the strategy of the enemy is to create division and discord. The elders, religious scholars and heads of the tribes of this province should see the issue of unity and integration as a strategy,” he noted.

Raeisi further said that despite the fact that Sistan and Baluchistan province is located at the border and despite some ill-wishing moves by the enemies to make the region insecure, the people of the province have maintained their unity.

The president further stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of government projects in line with the goal of the development of the province’s trade and economic relations with Pakistan, including the construction of 7 joint border markets.

“I believe that there are the best and most reliable and trustworthy businessmen in this province who can boost business with neighbors,” he added.

In continuation of the visit to Sistan and Baluchistan, the Iranian president held a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Mand-Pishin border crossing on Thursday, during which the two sides stressed the need to keep up the exchange of high-level delegations between Tehran and Islamabad as well as mutual efforts to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

The meeting came after Raeisi and Sharif jointly inaugurated a major border sustenance marketplace and an electricity transmission line.

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