Islamabad says that Pakistan and Iran agreed to “reduce violence” on Friday, January 19 (March 29). The agreement came after Iran and Pakistan carried out deadly airstrikes on militant targets on each other’s soil this week.
In the insecure border region of Balochistan, which is divided between the two countries, these rare military measures have led to regional tensions; The area is already insecure because of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Iran on Tuesday night launched missile and drone strikes against what it said were “terrorist” targets in Pakistan, and Pakistan targeted militant targets inside Iran on Thursday.
Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Tehran and said that Iran’s ambassador – who went on a trip to his country – has been banned from returning to Islamabad.
The United Nations and the United States have called for restraint, while China has offered mediation.
However, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdullahian agreed after a telephone conversation to “coordinate closely on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern.”
According to the summary of the telephone conversation between the officials of the two countries published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Islamabad, “They also agreed to de-escalate the situation.”
After these telephone conversations, Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian said in a statement that “cooperation between the two countries is necessary to eliminate terrorist camps in Pakistan.”
This kind of statement matches the predictions of analysts who say that both sides will try to reduce the conflict.
“The result of the new situation is that the two countries are outwardly and symbolically equal (in operations),” says Antoine Levesques, a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Anwar Haq Kakkar held an emergency security meeting with the leaders of the army and intelligence. Kakar cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Both Tehran and Islamabad said that they had attacked their domestic militants who were hiding in the neighboring country.