The Middle East is a decidedly flammable land. In addition to the war between Israel and Hamas, the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran and Pakistan are in turn sending respective strikes to each other. If they do not target official national troops, these reciprocal attacks are considered on both sides as a violation of the sovereignty of each country and risk further inflaming regional tensions. A look back at the latest events shaking the Iranian-Pakistani border.
Deadly strikes in Iran
The death toll rose to nine, including four children and three women “all of non-Iranian nationality”, according to Iranian state media citing the deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchistan province, Alireza Marhamati. During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Pakistan claimed to have launched “strikes against terrorist hideouts” in Iran.
“This morning, Pakistan carried out a series of precision, highly coordinated and specifically targeted strikes against terrorist hideouts in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan”, in the southeast of Iran, announced in a statement the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ” The measure […] was taken in view of credible intelligence on imminent terrorist activities on a large scale,” he justified, affirming that “a number of terrorists” had been killed.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” assured the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The sole objective of today’s action was to work towards the security of Pakistan and our national interest, which are paramount and cannot be compromised,” he added.
Iran hits its neighbors
Tehran, for its part, carried out an airstrike on Tuesday evening against “terrorist targets” in Pakistan. Islamabad on Wednesday deemed this attack, which caused the death of two children, “totally unacceptable” and unjustified. This Iranian attack “by missile and by drone” had targeted the headquarters in Pakistan of the jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic), in response to an “aggression against security” by Iran, according to the Iranian Mehr news agency.
On Tuesday, Iran also launched missile attacks on what it described as “spy” headquarters and “terrorist” targets in Syria and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. The United States condemned these Iranian strikes denouncing a violation of “the sovereign borders of its neighbors in recent days”.
The Pakistani charge d’affaires was summoned to give “explanations”, again according to the Iranian media. In response, Pakistan, which is preparing to hold general elections on February 8, recalled its ambassador to Iran and decided to prevent the return of the Iranian ambassador, who is currently in his country. China, which maintains privileged ties with Islamabad and Tehran, said on Thursday it was ready “to play a constructive role to calm the situation”.
Latent insurrections
According to Pakistani media, the Iranian attack occurred near Panjgur, in the southwest of Baluchistan province (West), where Pakistan and Iran share a border of a thousand kilometers. Baluchistan, Pakistan’s largest, least populated and poorest province, which also borders Afghanistan, has been rocked intermittently for decades by a separatist rebellion. The province is rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, but its population complains of being marginalized and robbed of its natural resources.
Pakistan, the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, and Iran have both faced latent insurgencies for decades along this common border. Iran and Pakistan frequently accuse each other of allowing rebel groups to operate from each other’s territories to launch attacks, but it is rare for either country’s forces to be involved.
A terrorist group threatening Iran
Jaish al-Adl, formed in 2012, has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years. The group is considered a “terrorist organization” by the United States. In December, Jaish-al-Adl claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask in Sistan-Baluchistan, in which 11 Iranian police officers were killed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian insisted on Wednesday that “Jaish al-Adl is a terrorist group that acts against the common security of the two countries.”