—— Pakistan reserves right to respond’, FM warns Iranian counterpart after airspace violation
—— Says incident caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran
—— Adds Iran’s attack egregious violation of int’l law and spirit of bilateral ties
—— Terms the air strike egregious violation of int’l law
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Wednesday told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian that Pakistan reserved the right to respond to Iran’s “provocative act” of attacking inside its territory.
Jilani, who is currently leading the Pakistan delegation to the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Kampala, Uganda, made these remarks as he received a telephone call from the Iranian foreign minister, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).
The foreign minister firmly underscored that the attack conducted by Iran inside Pakistani territory, on January 16, 2024, was not only a serious breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty but was also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran. Expressing Pakistan’s unreserved condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister said that the inci-dent has caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran. “Pakistan reserved the right to respond to this provocative act,” the statement quoted Jilani as saying.
Stressing that terrorism was a common threat to the region and required concerted and coordinated efforts to combat the menace, the foreign minister underlined that unilateral actions could seriously undermine regional peace and stability. No country in the region should tread this perilous path, he added.
The strikes, which Tehran described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl, in the Panjgur district of Balochistan killed two “innocent children” and wounded three girls.
Earlier in the day, Tehran’s top diplomat said that his country’s armed forces targeted an “Iranian ter-rorist group” in Pakistan the day before.
“None of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian mis-siles and drones,” FM Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“The so-called Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted,” he added.
Abdollahian said Iran’s attack on “Pakistan’s soil” was a response to the Jaish al-Adl group’s recent deadly attacks on the Islamic Republic, particularly on the city of Rask in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
“The group has taken shelter in some parts of Pakistan’s Balochistan province,” Abdollahian said, add-ing that “we’ve talked with Pakistani officials several times on this matter”.
The foreign minister said Iran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan but would not “allow the country’s national security to be compromised or played with”.
Pakistan denounced the strike near the nations’ shared border, recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad.
“This illegal act is completely unacceptable and has not justification whatsoever. Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act and the responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran,” said FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in a brief statement.
The spokesperson also added that Islamabad would suspend all high-level diplomatic exchanges with Tehran following the violation of the country’s sovereignty and added that the Iranian envoy to Paki-stan, who is currently visiting Iran, will not be allowed back in the country.
Missiles targeted two bases of Jaish al Adl in Pakistan on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, a day after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards missile strikes hit an “Israeli spy centre” in Iraq and targeted Is-lamic State militants in Syria.
“These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones,” media reports in Tehran said. Iran’s Nournews, affiliated with the country’s top security body, said the attacked bases were located in the Balochistan province.
However, Pakistan contested Iran’s claims that the strikes destroyed “terrorist hideouts” and strongly protested with the neighbouring country. “This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unac-ceptable and can have serious consequences,” the FO statement said.
Jaish-al-Adl is a militant group established in 2012 and has been operating from Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province. Tehran alleges that the group also has hideouts across the border in Pakistan.
The group since its inception took responsibility of several attacks against Iran’s security forces. In Feb-ruary 2019, the group killed 27 security personnel, prompting Iranian civil and military leadership to is-sue stern warnings to Pakistan.
However, Tuesday’s strike came as major surprise because Tehran opted for this option despite exist-ence of channels of communication between the two countries.
Also, the strikes were launched the day Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar met with the Iranian for-eign minister on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The Iranian president’s point man for Afghanistan was also in Islamabad, recently.
Soon after the attack, Pakistan’s strong protest was lodged with the concerned senior official in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, while Iran’s charge d’affaires was summoned by the for-eign ministry.
The statement reiterated that Pakistan had always said that terrorism was a common threat to all countries in the region that required coordinated action.
