Militants located in border areas of Pak & Iran ‘led and supported by third countries’: Iranian FM

Islamabad: In an apparent reference to Taliban-led Afghanistan, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Monday said there was “no doubt” that militants located in the border areas of Pakistan and Iran were “led and supported by third countries”, days after the two neighbours conducted tit-for-tat military strikes at alleged terrorist bases in both countries.

Abdolahian arrived in Pakistan late Sunday night to de-escalate the tension between the two nations following the military strikes conducted earlier this month.

In a joint press conference along with Pakistan Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Abdollahian said: “There is no doubt that the terrorists located in the common border regions and areas of Iran and Pakistan are led and supported by third countries and they never favour any good action in line with the benefits of the Iranian and Pakistani governments and nations.” He, however, did not name any country.

“Our historical bilateral relations and connections testify that we are a single nation located in two different geographical positions. Both Iran and Pakistan respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are here, so in a loud voice we will tell all terrorists that Iran and Pakistan will not provide them with any opportunity to endanger our common security.” On his part, Jilani said Pakistan and Iran have agreed to “establish a high-level constructive mechanism at the level of foreign ministers of the two countries”.

Both the nations have agreed to “cooperate to fight terrorism in our respective areas”, he said, emphasising the need to “allay and address each other’s concerns”.

Jilani said the threat of terrorism posed a common challenge to both countries and, therefore, Islamabad and Tehran have agreed to “adopt collaborative approaches to confront this menace to leverage the robust institutional mechanism”. He said the two sides have agreed to station liaison officers at the Iranian cities of Turbat and Zahedan and an agreement is already in place at the earliest date.

He said Abdolahian’s visit to Pakistan at “such short notice” testified to the deep commitment on both sides to solidify ties” with each other.