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Hostilities between Pakistan and Iran have continued to mount over recent days, with Pakistan conducting retaliatory strikes against militants on Iranian soil.
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Updated: Iran and Pakistan have pledged “brotherly” unity and collaboration against cross border terror groups and the State of Israel, following a series of tit-for-tat cross border airstrikes last week (16 January).
Tensions mounted following a series of strikes by Iran against Jaish al-Adl training camps in Pakistan, a terror group that the Iranian government accused of a recent suicide bombing claiming the lives of 91 people.
Pakistani sources claimed that the strikes left two children dead.
The attack prompted retaliatory Pakistani airstrikes against Balochistan separatists in Iran, which Iranian media alleged claimed the lives of 9 – mainly women and children.
In response to the attacks, Pakistan recalled its ambassador and barred Iran’s envoy entry into the country.
Following calls from restraint from China, the United States and United Nations, the two countries have agreed to enhance collaboration on counterterrorism activities following the series of cross border strikes.
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called for the two countries to strengthen their unity, calling on the Muslim world to direct their anger toward Israel.
“In a situation where the Zionist regime is attempting to kill women and children in Palestine, the need for the unity of the Islamic world and large and effective countries is felt more than ever,” he explained.
Pakistani Foreign Affairs Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani responded to the calls of unity, pledging to prioritise anti-terror collaboration.
“We are two long-standing neighbors and Muslims, terrorism is our common enemy, and we should not allow terrorists and the enemies of the relations between Tehran and Islamabad to abuse anything. Cooperation and brotherhood are the main focus of our work,” the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Minister said.
According to Mark Katz, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, the recent skirmish is unlikely to result in large scale conflict between the two nations.
Writing in a blog for the Atlantic Council, Katz outlined that: “Neither Iran nor Pakistan launched an attack against the other’s forces or assets. Instead, each attacked against what they consider to be jihadi forces inside the other’s territory that the other also considers problematic.
“In my view, Pakistani and Iranian forces are not likely to get into a shooting match with each other. If they do, though, the United States will be less able to serve as a mediator due to its lack of relations with Iran than would other powers—such as China, Russia, and possibly the European Union—that can work with both countries.”
