Gunmen in Iran kill 9 Pakistanis near border

TEHERAN — Gunmen in southeastern Iran killed nine people on Saturday, Iranian media reported, with Islamabad's ambassador identifying them as Pakistanis, as the neighboring countries have sought to ease tensions after deadly cross-border fire.

Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that "according to witnesses, this morning unknown armed men killed nine non-Iranians in a house in the Sirkan neighborhood of Saravan city" in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

No group had claimed responsibility, Mehr said.

The province's deputy governor, Alireza Marhamati, told the official news agency IRNA that according to survivors of the incident, "three armed people shot at the foreigners after entering their residence and fled the scene".

Marhamati confirmed the toll of nine deaths and said three others were wounded.

Pakistan's ambassador to Teheran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was "deeply shocked by horrifying killing of 9 Pakistanis in Saravan".

"Embassy will extend full support to bereaved families ... We called upon Iran to extend full cooperation in the matter."

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch condemned the attack as "horrifying and despicable" and asked Iranian authorities to "investigate the incident and hold to account those involved in this heinous crime".

She stressed that the Pakistani embassy in Iran "will do its best to repatriate dead bodies at the earliest", adding that "such cowardly attacks cannot deter Pakistan from its determination to fight terrorism".

The shooting occurred before a planned visit on Monday to Pakistan by Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned the attack and extended sympathy to the victims' families and the Pakistani government in a statement published by the ministry.

"Iran and Pakistan won't allow enemies to damage the brotherly ties between the two countries," he said.

Agencies - Xinhua