Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that no Pakistani national was the target of airstrikes by the Islamic Republic.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Amirabdollahian said that the target of the cross-border airstrikes on Tuesday night were “Iranian terrorists present on Pakistani soil”.
Reports said on Tuesday night that positions of Jaish al-Adl terrorist group had come under attack in the restive Baluchistan region, which borders Iran.
“We targeted Jaish al-Adl, not Pakistani citizens,” Amirabdollahian confirmed in his speech.
“We have no tolerance for terrorists operating within the territories of Iraq and Pakistan, posing a threat to Iran’s security. We respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan, but we won’t allow Iran’s security to be compromised,” he added.
The airstrikes came a day after Iran launched a series of missile strikes targeting an Israeli espionage center in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Daesh terrorist positions in Syria’s Idlib.
“We consider the security of Iraq and Pakistan to be that of the security of Iran,” Amirabdollahian said.
Iran’s interior minister issued a warning to Pakistan to stop the Jaish al-Adl terrorists from launching attacks in Iran, after 11 Iranian policemen were killed in the southeastern city of Rask in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, which borders Pakistan.
Elsewhere in his speech at the Davos forum, Amirabdollahian warned about the repercussions of continued Israeli war on Gaza for the entire region.
“Lebanon is currently engaged in war, and we witness conflicts in the Red Sea. Today, we see the genocide, intensified fighting, and the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said.
Iran’s top diplomat said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu must understand that continuing the war on Gaza is not the solution to his problems. “Hamas will not be destroyed by war, and Israeli captives will not be set free.”, Irna news agency writes.
