China has shown a willingness to assist in mediating a resolution between Pakistan and Iran following a string of attacks by both governments on militant targets across their respective borders, resulting in fatalities on both sides.
Two toddlers were killed and three girls were injured in the late-night missile strike that Iran launched without warning. The “unprovoked” attack was sharply denounced by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, which claimed that Tehran had infringed on the nation’s sovereignty.
In the meantime, Pakistan launched an attack overnight in retaliation to the strikes that Iran said targeted a militant organization, killing many militant targets who lived in the Iranian border region.
Tehran reports that the Islamabad bombing had killed at least seven civilians.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed the country’s sincere hope that both parties would be able to maintain composure and prevent tensions from rising during a news briefing in Beijing.
“We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish,” she stated.
“China always stands that relations between countries should be handled in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law and that countries’ sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity should be respected and safeguarded.”
Yang Yundong, the Chinese consul general in Karachi, reiterated earlier today China’s desire to mediate disputes between the two countries in a positive way.
In an exclusive interview with Geo News, Yundong stated, “China would like to ask Pakistan and Iran that we would like to play a constructive role to settle the differences between the two countries.”
In response to a query about Iran’s flagrant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty by firing a missile into Balochistan, he stated that China hoped that as Iran and Pakistan were the two main nations in the Muslim world and the area, their issues could be resolved amicably through diplomacy and other means.
Along their thinly populated borders, nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighboring Iran are fighting smoldering insurgencies.
Following Tehran’s breach of Pakistani airspace on January 17, which resulted in the deaths of two Pakistanis and numerous injuries, Pakistan threatened Iran with dire consequences.
