Bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran have been suspended for the time being following an Iranian airstrike. Pakistan withdraws its ambassador as Tehran defends attack on extremist group.
Pakistan has withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran after an Iranian missile attack on extremists in its territory. The Foreign Ministry in Islamabad described the attack as unacceptable in a statement. “Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act.” Tehran has been informed that it will withdraw the ambassador.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry further announced that Iran’s ambassador would not be allowed to return to Pakistan until further notice. Iran’s ambassador, Reza Amira Moghaddam, was already in his homeland at the time of the announcement. The bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran are therefore suspended. It was also decided to suspend all ongoing or planned high-level visits.
Iran and Pakistan just met in Davos
Relations between the two countries had just improved. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian and Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar recently met at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The neighboring countries also held a joint naval exercise.
The trigger for the diplomatic tensions was an attack by Iran on targets in Pakistan. A report by Iranian state media, later retracted without explanation, said the attack by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was linked to the extremist Sunni group Jaish al-Adl who fights for an independent Baluchistan and is active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. According to reports from Pakistan, two children are said to have been killed in the Iranian attack.
The Sunni jihadist group Jaish al-Adl says it has carried out several attacks in Iran in recent years. The group is classified as a terrorist organization in Iran and the United States.
Iran defends attacks
A senior Pakistani security official told the AP news agency that Iran had not informed Pakistani authorities before the attack. However, Pakistan reserves the right to determine the time and place for a reaction itself.
Iran’s foreign minister defended nightly missile and drone attacks on extremists in Pakistan. “We respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos a day after the attack. “But we will not allow them to play with the national security of our country,” the minister said, adding: “No citizen of our neighbors, friends and brothers in Pakistan has been targeted by drones and missiles.”
Before the attack on Pakistani territory, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had already attacked targets in neighboring Iraq and Syria with missiles. The attacks are a response to previous attacks in Iran.