Pakistan’s Familiar Balancing Act On Display After Congratulating Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei

Last Updated:March 10, 2026, 8:59 PM IST

Pakistan’ PM Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari have congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s next Supreme Leader

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Reuters)

Pakistan’s diplomatic tightrope was on full display after its leaders congratulated Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on February 28, intelligence sources told CNN-News18.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s next Supreme Leader, expressing confidence in his ability to guide Tehran towards peace, stability and prosperity.

“I congratulate His Eminence Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on his assumption of the responsibilities of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Sharif wrote on X. “I am confident that the new Supreme Leader would guide Iran towards peace, stability and prosperity, in the years ahead.”

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Meanwhile, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari also extended “good wishes” to Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Supreme Leader of Iran and expressed hope for improved conditions and stability in the region, according to his office.

Pakistan’s Familiar Balancing Act

Top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that the congratulatory messages exposed Pakistan’s tendency to take American aid and political cover, and simultaneously sustaining ties with Iran as part of a classic double game.

According to these sources, Islamabad is managing a delicate balancing act, while also trying to signal its stance to domestic and regional audiences, particularly in the Muslim world.

US President Donald Trump has declared Khamenei’s son as “unacceptable, emphasising that he was “not happy” with the appointment. Although he has not revealed any possible military action targeting Khamenei, Trump had expressed a desire for a role in the succession process and said any leader picked without his approval would not “last long”.

Israel, which has threatened to target any successor to Ali Khamenei, said the new supreme leader was a “tyrant” like his slain father, and would continue what it described as the Iranian “regime’s brutality”.

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