{"id":3493,"date":"2026-10-29T16:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3493"},"modified":"2026-10-29T16:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:03:54","slug":"khawaja-asif-hits-back-at-fazlur-rehman-over-tehran-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3493","title":{"rendered":"Khawaja Asif hits back at Fazlur Rehman over Tehran meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has rejected JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman\u2019s criticism over a recent meeting in Tehran, saying Field Marshal Asim Munir went to help pave the way for regional peace, not to negotiate a defence agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday, Asif said that Pakistan\u2019s defence was neither discussed nor was a defence pact under consideration at the meeting, adding that his participation was therefore unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>Fazlur Rehman had criticised the defence minister in the assembly a day earlier, questioning his absence while a purported defence agreement was being discussed in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Asif said the field marshal was playing a role in promoting regional peace and urged political leaders to show a broader perspective on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Fazlur Rehman\u2019s remarks, Asif acknowledged the JUI-F chief\u2019s services to the country but said he should also reflect on his own political record before criticising others.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that Fazlur Rehman had been part of successive governments and had cooperated with different political parties over the years.<\/p>\n<p>Asif also questioned his performance as chairman of the National Assembly\u2019s Kashmir Committee, a position he held for around 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>The defence minister said he had apologised for supporting former military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq, adding that his past speeches were often brought up when he spoke in favour of the hybrid system of government.<\/p>\n<p>Asif accused Fazlur Rehman of seeking to increase his political relevance, claiming that a political party had sought shelter under the JUI-F chief.<\/p>\n<p>He said his party had listened patiently to Fazlur Rehman\u2019s speech but warned that he could also discuss the positions and privileges the JUI-F leader had received during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has rejected JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman\u2019s criticism over a recent meeting in Tehran, saying Field Marshal Asim Munir went to help pave the way for regional peace, not to negotiate a defence agreement. Speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday, Asif said that Pakistan\u2019s defence was neither discussed nor was a defence pact under consideration at the meeting, adding that his participation was therefore unnecessary. Fazlur Rehman had criticised the defence minister in the assembly a day earlier, questioning his absence while a purported defence&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}