Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian traveled to Pakistan on Saturday and Sunday, a visit in which he and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed to boost bilateral relations. The leaders signed deals to increase trade to $10 billion (€8.6 billion) and boost their security ties. Both countries face security challenges related to militant activity near their border, where groups such as Jaish Al-Adl in Iran and the Pakistan-based Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have carried out numerous attacks. "Iran appears to be shifting toward security diplomacy rather than confrontation. Tehran is actively seeking intelligence-sharing mechanisms, joint border patrols, and other forms of coordinated security engagement with Islamabad," Fatemeh Aman, senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told DW. Pakistan and Iran share a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border that runs through Balochistan, a region which comprises the Pakistani province of the same name and the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as parts of Afghanistan. The region has struggled for decades with a separatist insurgency on both sides of the border. Iran and Pakistan have a strategic alliance fighting those militant groups, but their relationship has at times been strained due to the cross-border terrorism, which resulted in clashes and tit-for-tat missile strikes last year. Despite those issues, relations between Iran and Pakistan remain largely amicable. Pakistan sided with Iran during the recent 12-day conflict with Israel, condemning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and clearly labeling Israel as the aggressor. But even with that show of support, Pakistan's growing partnership with the United States — whose ties with Iran have been marked by decades of hostility and tensions, especially over Iran's nuclear program — could become a cause for concern in Tehran. Aman said that "despite its history of close ties with Washington, Pakistan has consistently avoided direct military alignment when it comes to Iran." Because of their strategic ties, "Tehran views Islamabad as unlikely to serve as a military platform for hostile actions against Iran," she added.