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Al Manar
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Manar
Iran's Foreign Minister Urges Restraint in India, Pakistan Standoff
Iran's foreign minister urged India and Pakistan on Monday to exercise restraint as he arrived in Islamabad for a one-day visit, while the nuclear-armed rivals trade accusations over a deadly attack in Kashmir. India has accused Pakistan of involvement in last month's attack on tourists, which Islamabad denies. It says it has 'credible intelligence' that India intends to launch military action, fueling prospects for war between the neighbors. 'We seek de-escalation and urge all parties to exercise restraint and avoid increasing tensions,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on arrival in Pakistan's capital. Iranian ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam told state media the matter would be on the agenda, given Iran's close ties with both nations. Araghchi will also travel to Delhi on Thursday, Iran's embassy in India said on X. 'The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments,' Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement flagging the meetings. India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously ruled out third-party mediation in matters related to Kashmir. The Muslim-majority Himalayan region claimed by both India and Pakistan has been the focus of several wars and diplomatic stand-offs. Since the attack, Islamabad has been in touch with a number of capitals regarding the situation, its foreign office said, most recently through a telephone call between Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. 'Lavrov expressed concern over the situation and stressed the importance of diplomacy to resolve issues,' the foreign office said in a statement on Sunday, adding that he urged restraint on both sides, asking them to avoid escalation. Islamabad has also asked its United Nations envoy to seek a meeting of the UN Security Council to brief the body on what it called India's 'aggressive actions' risking peace and security.
Al Jazeera
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Islamabad seeks answers after eight Pakistanis shot dead in Iran
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan has urged Iran to conduct a 'comprehensive investigation' after eight Pakistani migrant workers were killed over the weekend in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, which shares a border with Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. The attack took place on Saturday in Mehrestan county, located roughly 230km (142 miles) from the Pakistan border, where unidentified assailants attacked a workshop. According to Iranian media reports, all eight workers – who belonged to various areas of Pakistan's Punjab province and were working as mechanics – were tied up and shot dead. The Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), a lesser-known Baloch group seeking independence from Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Iran and Pakistan were both quick to condemn the attack, with the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, saying 'terrorism is a common threat throughout the region'. The Pakistani envoy to Tehran, Mudassir Tipu, confirmed in a statement on X that the two countries were coordinating efforts to investigate the incident. Earlier, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sought a joint response against the attackers. 'Pakistan strongly condemns the inhumane and cowardly killing of its nationals in Iran. We hope for the Iranian side's full cooperation in investigating the matter and in the timely repatriation of victims' remains,' it said in a statement on Sunday. Yet experts say the deadly attack only underscored the tense security landscape along their shared border — where the two countries traded missile fire last year, accusing each other of harbouring deadly armed Pakistan-Iran border has been tense since January 2024, when Iran launched attacks on Pakistani soil. The Iranian government said it was targeting Jaish al-Adl, an armed group it accuses of carrying out multiple attacks in Iran. Pakistan responded a day later with a retaliatory attack that it said was based on 'credible intelligence' regarding 'impending large-scale terrorist activities' from across the border. Just days after the exchange, at least nine Pakistani labourers were killed in Iran's Saravan region by unidentified men in a strikingly similar act of violence to the Mehrestan incident. Balochistan, a region that spans parts of Iran and Afghanistan, has experienced a surge in violence over the past year, with the secessionist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) (BLA) carrying out several large-scale attacks. Last month, the BLA launched an audacious attack by hijacking the Jaffer Express, a Pakistani passenger train carrying about 400 people. Following an operation that lasted more than 24 hours, Pakistani security forces overcame the hijacking, eliminating at least 33 attackers. Thirty people, including 26 passengers and four security personnel, were also killed. Balochistan is home to about 15 million of Pakistan's estimated 240 million people, according to the 2023 census. Yet, it remains the country's poorest region despite its wealth in natural resources, including coal, gold, copper, and gas. It also hosts one of Pakistan's major deep-sea ports at Gwadar, a critical hub in the $62bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), designed to connect southwestern China to the Arabian Sea through Pakistan. Baloch nationalist groups allege that the Pakistani state has neglected their people while exploiting the province's resources, fuelling separatist movements and armed rebellions. Baloch activists also accuse the government of human rights violations and of being behind forced disappearances — a charge that Pakistan's government denies. While Pakistani authorities have repeatedly accused the Taliban group, Afghanistan's interim rulers, of harbouring violent groups that conduct cross-border attacks, criticism against the Iranian government has remained comparatively restrained, said Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, a security analyst. Mehsud, who is also a co-founder of The Khorasan Diary, a security research portal, added that while Tehran insists that it does not harbour Baloch armed separatists, multiple incidents over the past 15 months suggest that Baloch secessionist groups are active on Iran's side of the border. While the BLA remains the most potent group in Balochistan, targeting law enforcement personnel as well as Chinese interests, Mehsud said the BNA — the group that claimed Saturday's attack — is smaller, with more limited resources. There is no evidence to suggest that Iran is in any way supportive of the BNA. In fact, the Baloch group views Iran, as it views Pakistan, as an occupier. 'BNA has faced internal divisions in the past as well and lags significantly behind BLA in terms of fighter strength, including suicide squads, financial resources, propaganda capabilities, and weapon availability,' Mehsud added. He believes the latest attack may be an attempt by the BNA to reassert its presence. The Islamabad-based analyst adds that although the BNA is opposed to Iran, its threat to Tehran's interests appears limited compared with Jaish al-Adl, a Baloch group that has repeatedly attacked Iran in the past. That, he said, might explain Iran's approach to the two groups — prioritising one as a security threat over the other. 'Iran's response to these groups differs significantly, persistently targeting Jaish al-Adl while seemingly not taking action against the BNA,' Mehsud said. Still, following the April 12 attack, Iran has been firm in seeking a regional response to armed groups — which creates the possibility of greater coordination between Tehran and Islamabad in addressing security threats on both sides of the border. 'Combating this ominous phenomenon requires collective and joint efforts by all countries to eradicate all forms of terrorism and extremism that have claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people in recent decades,' Moghadam, the Iranian ambassador in Pakistan, wrote on X.
Express Tribune
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Iran condemns killing of eight Pakistanis in Sistan-Baluchestan attack
The Iranian embassy in Pakistan on Sunday condemned the killing of eight Pakistani workers in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, describing the attack as 'inhumane and cowardly.' A spokesman for the banned Balochistan National Army (BNA) claimed responsibility for Saturday's assault, in which gunmen stormed a car repair workshop in Mehrestan city and opened fire after tying up the workers. 'All eight victims were residents of Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province,' Iranian officials confirmed. Iran's Ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, denounced the killings, calling terrorism a shared threat to regional security. 'Combating this ominous phenomenon requires collective and joint efforts by all countries,' Moghadam said in a statement. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed deep sorrow, calling the attack a brutal act of terrorism. He urged Tehran to arrest the perpetrators, ensure their swift punishment, and disclose the motive. The Pakistani government has instructed its embassy in Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist the families and oversee the repatriation of the victims' bodies. Iranian police said investigations were underway after the assailants fled the scene. Authorities identified five of the victims as Dilshad, his son Muhammad Naeem, Jaffar, Danish and Nasir. This was the second such attack in Sistan-Baluchestan in recent months. In January 2024, nine Pakistanis were similarly shot dead in the province, following tensions along the Pakistan-Iran border.
