Washington: The latest Iranian bombings in Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria were denounced by the US on Wednesday. Tehran maintains that these strikes were directed at “anti-Iranian terrorist groups.”
Therefore, we do reject those strikes. In the last few days alone, Iran has violated the national borders of three of its neighbors, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Islamabad issued a strong warning to its neighbor, Iran, in response to Tehran’s unilateral violation of Pakistani airspace on Wednesday. It also declared that the Iranian ambassador would be expelled and that Pakistan would be withdrawing its envoy from Tehran.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated, “Pakistan has decided to recall its ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return for the time being.”
In response to the situation, acting foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani informed his Iranian counterpart that no nation should take its lead and carry out a unilateral attack on the territory of a neighboring country in order to combat the threat of terrorism.
Jilani said over the phone to Iran’s FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, “No country in the region should tread this perilous path,” hours after Tehran asserted that it had targeted “terrorists” in Pakistan.
According to the foreign minister, Pakistan has the “right to respond to this provocative act” reserved.
In addition to emphasizing that coordinated measures were needed to confront terrorism as a shared challenge to the area, FM Jilani also highlighted that taking unilateral action might have a significant negative impact on regional peace and security.
According to Iran’s state media, on January 17, Tehran used drones and missiles to hit the bases of Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which it claimed was a terrorist organization, within Pakistani territory at “Green Mountain.” The terrorist group’s headquarters was also destroyed.
The FO spokeswoman, however, claimed that three other people were injured and two children were killed in the attack.
Islamabad described Iran’s action as an “unprovoked and blatant” infringement of Pakistan’s sovereignty and said it went against international law as well as the goals and tenets of the UN Charter.
