Iran summons Pakistan envoy after nine killed in retaliatory strikes

Iran's foreign ministry has issued a statement in the last few minutes, once again condemning Pakistan's strikes this morning near the city of Saravan in the Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The statement adds that Tehran is committed to good neighbourly relations with Pakistan, but called on Islamabad to prevent the establishment of "bases and armed terrorist groups" on Pakistani soil.

The ministry also goes on to outline Iran's strike on Pakistan's Balochistan province on Tuesday, saying that upon observing that a militant group was about to leave Iran for Pakistan, it "carried out preventive operations against this terrorist group".

Iran's foreign minister has already said the operation targeted the militant group Jaish al-Adl, which he described as an "Iranian terrorist group" in Pakistan.

The statement adds that the strikes took place away from residential areas and that it's part of the duties of Iran's border forces to deal with any threats against its people or country.

EPACopyright: EPA

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan's former foreign minister, says he "unequivocally condemns, in the most serious of terms, the violation of Pakistan's territory", referencing Tehran's attack on Pakistani soil on Tuesday.

He tells the BBC of his surprise at the attack because Iran's foreign minister met with Pakistan's acting prime minister on "the day they violated the sovereignty of our country".

He says "it would be a mistake" for a country to think Pakistan can't respond to violations, and says it sends a "clear message that Pakistan has both the will and ability to respond".

"Having said that, terrorism is a joint threat not only for Pakistan and Iran but our entire region and the only way to combat these threats are by working together," he adds.

Asked about the relationship between the two countries, Zardari says "the ball is very much in Iran's court".

Quote Message: I do hope this does not lead to a further increase or escalation in tension. I'm hoping that better sense prevails and both sides engage in diplomacy in pursuit of peace." from Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Pakistan's former foreign minister

I do hope this does not lead to a further increase or escalation in tension. I'm hoping that better sense prevails and both sides engage in diplomacy in pursuit of peace."

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's representative to the United Nations from 2015 to 2019, has said Islamabad wanted to "send a signal to Tehran that they cannot violate Pakistan's border".

Speaking from Pakistan's capital, she told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme that Iran had crossed a red line by carrying out a deadly missile and drone attack on western Pakistan on Tuesday.

Pakistanis were "baffled" by Iran's attack, because "over the years, relations have improved and the two countries were engaged in joint military exercises", she adds.

Quote Message: The Iranian government wants to show they can strike where they want to. But this has driven Iran back into diplomatic isolation. We need to bring down the temperature." from Maleeha Lodhi Pakistan's former representative to the UN

The Iranian government wants to show they can strike where they want to. But this has driven Iran back into diplomatic isolation. We need to bring down the temperature."

Pakistan carried out retaliatory strikes into Iran on Thursday. Iran condemned the attack, which it said killed three women, two men and four children.

Pakistan says its deadly air strikes hit a "terrorist hideout" in Iranian territory.

The Pakistani military said it attacked the Baloch Liberation Front, who are a militant group seeking independence for Balochistan - a province of Pakistan.

Many Baloch people also live in the neighbouring Iranian province Sistan-Baluchestan, as well as in Afghanistan.

The BLF have been fighting Pakistan's government there for decades, as one of several militant groups operating in the region for many years.

The militants say the central Pakistani government exploit the resources of the vast province, extracting its significant gas and mineral resources, without benefiting the 15 million people living there.

The BLF, alongside other Baloch fighters, often attack gas projects, infrastructure, and military checkpoints in Balochistan.

They also target Chinese projects in the region, which form part of a major economic cooperation iniative between Pakistan and China.

These attacks have occasionally led to Chinese workers being killed, despite Pakistan's assurances that it is doing all it can to protect them.

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Pakistan knew it had to retaliate, and be seen to be doing do, when Iran attacked targets inside its territory.

Stunned by a “brotherly” neighbour’s violation of its sovereignty, it swiftly decided to respond in kind, proving it was able and ready to strike.

Like Iran, it claimed its action in striking Baloch separatists was to prevent an “impending attack.”

Pakistan also knows its region, fractured by many fault lines, was watching. That includes long standing regional rival India, as well as Afghanistan.

Both neighbours have also long traded accusations with Pakistan of giving safe haven to hostile forces.

This seems to be about setting “red lines” with Iran, and other friendly and not-so-friendly countries who could possibly contemplate similar action.

National prestige was also in the mix. This unprecedented, and unexpected, tit-for-tat comes at a time when Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment, which has long played a defining role in foreign as well as domestic policy, has been under significant pressure at home.

Long delayed elections are just weeks away in a country also pained by financial crises.

There’s been a spike in tension, a recalling of ambassadors. It will take time to repair this damage, ease this distrust. But both sides seem to believe that is the best way forward.

As we've been reporting, there has been a diplomatic response from both Iran and Pakistan to the exchange of strikes on Tuesday and this morning.

Iran's foreign ministry has summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires over the issue, and Pakistan both recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran's envoy from returning to Islamabad.

But what is the significance of Pakistan's most senior diplomat in Iran being summoned?

The short answer is that it is a fairly common demonstration of disgruntlement, an internationally understood language of diplomacy which makes clear the political will of the country demanding an explanation or expulsion of a foreign senior official.

While the attacks exchanged by Iran and Pakistan would appear to raise the danger of an escalation of hostilities in the region, the nature of the strikes could limit such a threat, according to the Chatham House think tank.

Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that it initially "looked very dangerous for Iran to breach the sovereignty of a neighbour, a neighbour that is a nuclear power".

"However, it looks like the attacks on both sides were proportional so it seems like there is a space for de-escalation here. Because both countries are attacking 'terror groups' that seem to be threatening both countries, there is space for a climb down," he adds.

Very little footage of the Pakistani attacks in Iran has emerged.

At least nine people were killed, including women and children, Iranian authorities say. But they also say none of the dead were Iranian nationals.

The air strikes took place in the Sistan-Baluchestan province, which is a rural region of south-eastern Iran that experts describe as being barely governed and lawless.

The BBC has obtained this video of the aftermath of the deadly strikes on a village near the Pakistani border, showing people gathering to survey the damage to their homes:

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Student activists in Pakistan have held a protest against Iran in the capital city Islamabad.

The men marching chanted slogans including "a friend of Iran is a traitor", while one of the leaders of the demonstration said the Iranian government had "attacked our country, attacked our sovereignty".

Quote Message: Two of our innocent children were martyred and one woman too, that’s why we are protesting to condemn this act of Iran."

Two of our innocent children were martyred and one woman too, that’s why we are protesting to condemn this act of Iran."

The march comes in the wake of Pakistan carrying out retaliatory air strikes against "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan region which killed at least nine people.

Thursday's attack was in response to Iranian air strike in Pakistan's neighbouring Balochistan province on Tuesday, which Tehran said targeted an Iranian militant group based there.

Lt Gen Asif Yaseen, a former Pakistani secretary of defence, says that the country's internal turmoil may have been a factor in the decision to attack on Iranian soil.

“I think there's a lot of public pressure on the government to do something,” Yaseen tells the BBC.

He adds that he believes that the attacks “will stop here for both countries” after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has spoken to his Pakistani counterpart.

Yaseen says that it is a sign that Iran does not want further escalation, and for both sides to begin talks.

Residents in a village near the city of Saravan in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, close to the border with Pakistan, have been gathering to look at the impact of Pakistan's airstrikes.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Pakistan's attack on Iranian soil is the first external land attack on Iran since Saddam Hussein forces invaded Iran in 1980s, starting a vicious eight-year war.

Iran's initial reaction has been pretty muted - only half a sentence from the spokesman of the foreign ministry condemning the action. The pro-government media in Iran have been emphasising that those killed inside the country as a result of the Pakistani attacks were not Iranian nationals.

The Revolutionary Guards have been silent - which means that they are still debating how to respond. They seem to have been taken by surprise.

They certainly brought this on to themselves when over two days this week they attacked targets in three countries, including their neighbours Iraq and Pakistan with whom they had previous had good relations - relations that are now in tatters.

It's approaching lunchtime here in London, and late afternoon in the Iranian and Pakistani territories hit by strikes in recent days.

Here's an overview of what's been happening:

• Pakistan has launched missile strikes into Iran, killing nine people, after Iran carried out strikes in Pakistan late on Tuesday
• Islamabad said its strikes had hit "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province
• Iran condemned the attack, which it said killed three women, two men and four children, and Tehran has summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to "request an explanation"
• Pakistan had fiercely condemned Iran's strike on Tuesday, which struck an area of Pakistan's Balochistan province near the Iranian border and which Islamabad said killed two children
• Iran insisted its strikes were aimed only at Jaish al-Adl, an ethnic Baloch Sunni Muslim group that has carried out attacks inside Iran, and not Pakistan's citizens
• The two countries have complicated but cordial relations - as the BBC's Paul Adams explains, "after both sets of air strikes, each side seemed anxious to emphasise that these did not represent attacks on a brotherly neighbour"

As we've been reporting, Pakistan launched missile strikes into Iran early today, in retaliation for Iranian attacks in Pakistan late on Tuesday.

Pakistan said its strikes had hit "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Iran's strike on Tuesday hit an area of Pakistan's Balochistan province near the Iranian border.

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As the map below indicates, Iran's missile and drone attack on 16 January is believed to have hit the village of Sabz Koh about 45km (28 miles) from the Iranian border and 90km from the nearest town, Panjgur.

On 18 January, Pakistan responded with strikes around the Iranian city of Saravan, conducted with drones, rockets and long-range missiles.

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The European Union says it's concerned about the "spiral of violence in the Middle East and beyond" after Pakistan and Iran launched strikes into each other's territories in recent days.

Quote Message: These attacks, including in Pakistan, in Iraq and Iran now are of utmost concern for the European Union because they violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and they have also a destabilising effect on the region." from Peter Stano EU spokesman

These attacks, including in Pakistan, in Iraq and Iran now are of utmost concern for the European Union because they violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and they have also a destabilising effect on the region."

Russia has called on Iran and Pakistan for "maximum restraint" and to "resolve issues through political and diplomatic means".

Moscow is watching the escalation in the Iran-Pakistan border region "with alarm", a statement from Russia's foreign ministry says.

The statement adds that "any anti-terrorist operations outside sovereign territory should be conducted in coordination between the states involved".

It says it is "regrettable that this is happening between friendly countries".

Russia itself has been condemned by Western nations after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, having already annexed parts of Ukrainian territory in 2014.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by area and least populated, and has a recent history marked by insurgency and militancy.

This province shares a border with both Iran and Afghanistan. I am in Jhal Magsi, a town in Balochistan, some 500km (311 miles) from the Iranian border.

Iran's attack here on Tuesday and Pakistan's missile strike in retaliation early on Thursday has led to increased tensions. Iran claims to have targeted Jaish al-Adl "terrorists" that it says are hiding on Pakistani soil, a claim Pakistan denies.

After a day of diplomatic exchanges, Pakistan launched missiles into Iranian territory. The Pakistan military claims it targeted two militant outlets, BLF and BLA, active in Balochistan and hiding in Iran.

This escalation occurs just days before a general election in Pakistan, with an interim government in place and election campaigns in full swing.

This is an almost unprecedented incident between two nations that otherwise have good brotherly relations. But it also is a fact that both Iran and Pakistan have long accused each other of harbouring militant groups that carry out attacks from regions along this shared border.

But speaking of the public sentiment here, it leans towards supporting Pakistan's response. While people here do acknowledge the risk of escalation they are also seeing it as an opportunity to step back from the brink.

But then this is happening in a province that is the least developed, faces human rights violations allegedly by the state and has a history of a deteriorating security situation.