Pakistani strikes target 'terror' hideouts in Iran

ISLAMABAD/TEHERAN — Pakistan carried out strikes against "terrorist" hideouts in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Thursday morning, two days after Teheran said it had attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.

The strikes killed nine people in the border region in Iran's southeast, state media reported, updating an earlier toll of seven, Reuters reported citing Iranian media.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Thursday said the country "undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran".

"Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran," said the ministry, adding that there was no action on Pakistan's serious concerns.

"Pakistan upholds the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states," the ministry said, adding that in the exercise of the country's legitimate rights within international law, Pakistan would never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances.

Terming Iran a brotherly country, the ministry said Pakistan always emphasizes dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges, including the menace of terrorism and would continue to endeavor to find joint solutions.

In a statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the Iranian Foreign Ministry had summoned the Pakistani charge d'affaires in Teheran and asked for the Pakistani government's explanation regarding the incident.

The Pakistani strikes came after Iran's attack on Tuesday which killed two children and injured another three in Pakistan's Balochistan Province. Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday that his country pays great attention to neighboring Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He made the remarks in a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani, in which the two sides discussed Iran's "anti-terrorist" operations on Tuesday against the Jaish al-Zulm group in Pakistan, according to a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.

Amir-Abdollahian said: "Iran respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the friendly, brotherly and neighboring country of Pakistan."

Restraint urged

China said on Thursday that it is closely following the situation and is willing to mediate if needed.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China sincerely hopes that Iran and Pakistan, which are neighbors and also friendly nations to China, can exercise calm and restraint to avoid escalating tensions.

"If the two sides wish so, we are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation," Mao said.

Mao also said it is China's consistent position that relations between countries should be handled in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, and that all countries' sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and defended.

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar will cut short his visit at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "in view of the ongoing developments", foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a news conference in Islamabad.

Hours before the strike, Kakar met the Iranian foreign minister on the sidelines of the Davos summit and posed for photographs.

The latest strikes came as the Iranian and Pakistani navies recently staged a one-day joint military exercise in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement published on the Iranian army's public relations website on Tuesday.

The statement said the drill involved the two countries' cruise ships capable of launching missiles, as well as military vessels and a helicopter of the Iranian Navy. The exercise was held at the end of a three-day call, which started on Saturday, by a Pakistani flotilla at the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.

During the exercise, the two countries' forces executed tactical naval maneuvers, carried out operations to check communication and telecommunication circuits and practiced methods to send and receive messages in emergencies at sea, it added.

Mo Jingxi in Beijing contributed to this story.

Agencies - Xinhua