ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Pakistan recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Iran yesterday to protest at a “blatant breach” of its sovereignty after Tehran said it launched missile attacks on militant bases in southwestern Pakistan.
Iran’s foreign minister said it hit militants in “missile and drone” strikes. State media said Iranian missiles struck two bases of the Sunni Muslim group Jaish al-Adl, designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the U.S. State Department.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan said a violation of its airspace resulted in the deaths of two children but has not confirmed the nature of the violation, or the location of the strikes.
Only militants were hit, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, alleging those attacked were linked to Israel.
Pakistan and Iran have in the past had rocky relations, but the strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusion in recent years.
The strikes were launched a day after similar attacks carried out by Tehran inside other neighbours, Iraq and Syria. Baghdad recalled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran’s state-backed media said it had hit an Israeli espionage centre.
Provincial officials in Pakistan said two children were killed and several others injured in strikes near the Iran border.
The violation was unprovoked and unacceptable, said Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. Pakistan reserved “the right to respond to this illegal act”, a message it had conveyed to the Iranian government, she said.
Pakistan would not allow Iran’s ambassador, currently visiting his home country, to return, Baloch said.
A joint border trade committee meeting had been canceled, and a Pakistani trade delegation had been recalled from Chabahar in Iran, said government official Aurangzeb Badini.
“Further escalation is possible, though Islamabad has strong incentives to be cautious,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, adding that Beijing might also step in to help mediate.
“China has close ties to both Iran and Pakistan, and it has a strong interest in the crisis not spiraling out of control …it will likely quietly press the two sides to step back from the brink” he said.
