Khawaja Asif rejects Fazlur Rehman criticism over Tehran meetings

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the National Assembly on Thursday that no defence agreement was under discussion at the recent meetings in Tehran, answering criticism from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman that Pakistan's defence minister should have been present there.

Fazlur Rehman had asked on Wednesday why the defence and foreign ministers were sitting in the House while the interior minister was in Tehran, saying a major defence-related meeting was under way in Iran and that the absence of the relevant ministers raised questions. Aaj News reported him saying that one has to keep one's honour and dignity in mind.

Replying a day later, Asif said the Tehran activities were not part of the defence ministry's mandate and therefore his presence was not needed. According to BBC Urdu, he said no defence pact was under consideration and no country's defence minister was part of the process, and that Field Marshal Asim Munir was in Tehran as part of efforts to reduce tension in the region and work for peace. Aaj News quoted him saying the Field Marshal was playing his role for peace and that people should show magnanimity on the matter.

The minister then turned to Fazlur Rehman's record. He asked what the JUI-F chief had done for Kashmir during roughly ten years as chairman of the Kashmir Committee, beyond securing privileges, and accused one party, which he did not name, of using religion and politics for its own interests. He warned him not to force him to raise the past.

Aaj News reported further remarks: that Fazlur Rehman had been part of governments at different times and should examine his own political past before criticising others; that he had criticised the Legal Framework Order yet served in a government set up under it; that he held several offices two years ago; and that while Asif had apologised for supporting General Zia-ul-Haq, his old speeches are recalled whenever he argues in favour of a hybrid system. Asif said he had objections to the 2018 elections, just as his political friends object to the present ones.

He said Fazlur Rehman wanted greater importance for himself and that a "political orphan" party had taken shelter under him. He said his own party had heard Fazlur Rehman's speech with patience, but that he could also speak about the posts and perks obtained during the PDM government, and asked not to be pushed into doing so. BBC Urdu reported that he remarked sarcastically that no men were left to defend the JUI-F leader, so women had to come forward. Opposition members protested during the sitting and quorum was once again pointed out, according to Aaj News.

In his own speech, Fazlur Rehman said his party had argued in the past that world powers and influential circles were interested in the region's mineral resources and that terrorism was being used to that end, and that the current debate on minerals supported his concerns. He claimed the US war in Afghanistan was justified through terrorism, destabilising several Muslim countries. He also raised constitutional points about governor's rule, saying the president's satisfaction that a province's law and order was bad and its government was not being run constitutionally was not clearly recorded in the relevant document. He demanded that the government move to resolve the continuing protests in Azad Kashmir.

Fazlur Rehman has criticised government decisions repeatedly in recent months. In July 2026 he questioned the government's strategy for tackling militancy, BBC Urdu reported, prompting a sharp exchange of statements between the government and his party.