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Iran has attacked a Sunni jihadist group in Pakistan, increasing tensions between the neighbouring states following similar attacks by the Islamic republic in Iraq and Syria.
Iranian media late on Tuesday reported the destruction of two bases of Jaish ul-Adl in the remote western province of Balochistan, which borders Iran. The Pakistan-based Sunni militant group has waged an armed campaign against Tehran since its foundation in 2012.
Pakistan “strongly condemned” the strikes, saying two children were killed and three injured in the attack. Its foreign ministry said the incident was a “blatant breach” of the country’s sovereignty.
The country recalled its ambassador from Iran and ordered the Iranian ambassador to Islamabad, who is at present visiting Tehran, to “not return for the time being” as the diplomatic spat between the countries quickly escalated.
The missile and drone strikes followed similar operations this week by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in Iraq and Syria in response to a suicide bombing in the southern city of Kerman. Sunni jihadist group Isis took responsibility for the Kerman attack earlier this month. The guards took responsibility for Iran’s strikes in Iraq and Syria but have not commented on the Pakistan attack.
Western concerns about the Islamic republic’s support for anti-Israel and anti-US Islamist groups, including Hizbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraqi militias, have escalated in recent months. Houthi rebels are targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea while Iranian-backed Iraqi militants have launched attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria.
The activity has increased fears that the war between Israel and Hamas, which erupted on October 7 following an attack by the Palestinian militant group in southern Israel, will evolve into a regional conflict.
Israel has launched a vigorous offensive against Hamas in Gaza, causing more than 24,000 deaths, according to Palestinian officials. Apparent Israeli strikes killed seven Hamas militants, including one of the group’s senior leaders, in Beirut, and a senior guards commander in Syria.
Iran denies any intentions to escalate regional tensions or engage in a war with Israel. But Iran’s defence minister, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani, said on Wednesday that the country’s response to threats would be “proportional, decisive, and firm”.
According to the guards-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, the area targeted in Balochistan was Koh-e-Sabz near the town of Panjgur. The region borders a restive area in south-eastern Iran where Sunni Muslims are a majority in the Shia-dominated Islamic republic.
Jaish ul-Adl claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask, an Iranian city in Sistan-Baluchestan province, in December that left 11 police officers dead. The separatist group fights for the rights of the minority Baluchi people in Iran’s south-east.
Iran has retaliated by killing Jaish ul-Adl militants and loyalists in recent years. The group has been designated by the US as a terrorist organisation.
One western official said after Tuesday’s attack: “I think the Pakistanis have shown their anger with Iran but they also seem to have said [to Iran], ‘You have crossed a red line, don’t make this mistake again’.”
Brigadier Farooq Hameed Khan, a retired Pakistan army commander and an analyst on foreign policy and security, told the Financial Times: “The public reaction in Pakistan is that there should be retaliation even if it’s symbolic.”
But he added that “it is hard to predict if there will be a military response”, noting the countries’ long-established ties and co-operation over Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday that Tehran shared friendly relations with its neighbours, and that the latest missile and drone strikes were directed at an Israeli spy base in Iraqi Kurdistan and Jaish ul-Adl in Pakistan.
“We targeted the base [in Iraqi Kurdistan] with precision-guided missiles. That does not mean Iran has struck Iraq,” he said,
“Pakistani nationals were not the target of Iranian missiles and drones. [Rather it was] the Jaish ul-Adl terrorists who have taken shelter in parts of Pakistan.” Amirabdollahian added that the targets of the strikes were Iranian nationals.
The attack came hours after the foreign minister discussed counter-terrorism measures with Anwar ul-Haq, Pakistan’s interim prime minister, on the sidelines of Davos. Amirabdollahian called on Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday urged Pakistan and Iran to “exercise restraint and avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension”.
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