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18-01-2024
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
ISLAMABAD/ TEHRAN: Pakistan foreign ministry said that the strike inside its territory was “illegal and unacceptable act” after Iran targeted two bases belonging to Jaish al-Adl militants in Balochistan province using drones and missiles leading to a diplomatic crisis between Tehran and its nuclear-armed neighbor at a time of rising regional conflict.
Pakistan reserves the right to respond, its foreign ministry said as the country became the second of Iran’s neighbors to complain of an attack on its soil within 24 hours amid tensions sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. Earlier, Iraq criticized a deadly Iranian missile strike that targeted an Israeli spy base in Iraqi Kurdistan in retaliation for the killing of an Iranian commander in Syria.
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Pakistan also recalled its ambassador from Iran and stopped Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad.
“Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran is a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” the foreign ministry said.
Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in protest at the “unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory” which killed two children and injured three others. “Responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran. Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighborly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence,” it said.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate’s defense committee, said, “We have to seek talks to eliminate the root causes of the issue, whether ungoverned spaces in Iran which are used against Pakistan or ungoverned spaces in Pakistan which may be used by terrorists against Iran.”
Iran said its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard targeted bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl which seeks an independent Balochistan and has spread across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Six bomb-carrying drones and rockets struck homes that the group said house their families.
China expressed concern over the ramp-up in tensions saying, “We urge the two sides to exercise restraint, avoid any actions that escalate the tensions, and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region.”
On Wednesday afternoon Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced that it was recalling its ambassador in Tehran. Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad, who is currently in Tehran, will not be allowed back into Pakistan, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson said.
“Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran is a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” the statement said, before issuing a veiled threat.
“This illegal act is completely unacceptable and has no justification whatsoever. Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act. The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran.”
