NEW DELHI: After the suicide attack which wiped out key commanders of its elite Revolutionary Guards in Sistan in the southeastern part of that country last month, Iran has decided to bolster its counter-terrorism efforts with real time intelligence sharing with India, realising that both countries now faced threats from a common enemy; extremist elements within Pakistan.

During the first senior level visit by an Iranian to India since Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s controversial re-election in June, Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday sought greater cooperation with India in countering terrorism during his meeting with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna.

Jundallah, a militant Sunni terror group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack which targeted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in October, the first time a terrorist organization in Pakistan targeted Iranian territory. India has been a constant target of terrorist groups within Pakistan.

According to senior officials in the government, the two countries share similar views on

terrorism but the fact that

both India and Iran are victims of terror emanating from

Pakistan has provided a new impetus to bilateral anti-terrorist cooperation.

Iran is vital for India’s energy security and is among the largest suppliers of crude oil to India, but it is unlikely that India will sign on to the much discussed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, primarily because of “security and pricing concerns,” official sources said.

Security of the pipeline in Pakistan and pricing of the gas by Iran, the sources said. Mottaki also briefed his interlocutors in New Delhi, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, about the status of Iran’s nuclear dialogue with the P-5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, USA, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

International diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear question took a promising turn last month when the P-5 +1 joined the IAEA in underwriting a complex deal for providing enriched fuel to the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). The deal involves Iran temporarily exporting 1,200 kg of low enriched uranium produced by its Natanz facility to Russia for enrichment, after which the enriched fuel would be sent to France for fabrication into rods, to be inserted into the TRR under IAEA supervision for use in the production of medical isotopes.

India, though not a party to the talks, will go along with any negotiated deal accepted by the IAEA. Government sources said they have urged the Iranians to not dismiss the TRR deal which appears to have stalled in Tehran after getting embro-iled in President Ahmadinijad’s domestic political troubles.

Western nations, including the USA, have urged India to use its “good offices” and “civilizational” and strategic ties with Iran to urge Tehran to accept an IAEA -mandated resolution of its nuclear impasse. Indian and Iranian delegation-level talks focused on a range of bilateral and regional issues including energy security, trade, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and enhanced collaboration in science and technology, with India offering to launch Iran’s satellite from one of its satellite launch vehicles.