9 people are killed in Pakistan’s tit-for-tat attacks in Iran; Tehran wants ‘prompt explanation’

Iran on Thursday condemned the retaliatory missile strike by Pakistan that hit a border region and killed at least nine people in the wee hours today. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, said that Pakistan’s charge d’affaires, its most senior diplomat in Tehran, had been summoned to give an explanation.

“Following the early morning attack by Pakistan on a border village in Sistan Baluchistan province, an hour ago the Pakistani charge d’affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation,” local media quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson today said that caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar would cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, in the wake of the attacks.

Also, caretaker Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, who on Tuesday embarked on a week-long official visit to Kampala, Uganda to participate in the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Third South Summit, was returning to his country.

The Pakistani military carried out targeted strikes against ‘terrorist hideouts’ in Iran after Tehran launched similar attacks the day before, in an escalation of tensions.

Pakistan’s attack was confirmed by the country’s Foreign Ministry, which, in a statement said, “A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation, a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts”.

“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ministry added in its statement.

“The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised,” it said.

A senior Pakistani security official told news agency Reuters the military was on “extremely” high alert and would meet any “misadventure” from the Iranian side forcefully.

On Tuesday, Iran confirmed it had hit Israel-linked ‘militant bases’ inside Pakistan. According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two bases of the Jaish ul-Adl terror group in Balochistan province were destroyed with drones and missiles.

Following the attack, Pakistan said civilians were hit, and two children were killed, warning of consequences for which Tehran would be responsible.

Later, on Wednesday, Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest against what it called a “blatant breach” of its sovereignty.

The neighbours have had rocky ties in the past, but the strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and come amid growing worries about instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas started on October 7.