Tensions between Pakistan and Iran: two countries agree to ‘de-escalate’

It’s time to relax. Pakistan and Iran announced on Friday that they had agreed to “de-escalate” tensions after the two countries exchanged deadly strikes this week.

The mutual explosions in the Balochistan region, which the two countries share and whose border is highly porous, have further heightened regional tensions at a time when the Middle East is rocked by war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel. in the Gaza Strip.

Pakistani authorities convened a security council on Friday, including chiefs of the army and military intelligence, after responding Thursday morning – in turn targeting “terrorist safe havens” in Iran – to Tuesday night’s Iranian missile attack. and to a drone attack on a “terrorist hideout” in Iran. terrorist group in Pakistan. The two attacks killed a total of 11 people, mostly women and children, according to authorities.

Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran and announced that Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, who was in his country, would not be allowed to return to Islamabad. The United Nations and the United States called for restraint, and China offered to mediate.

Hidden revolts

Following Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Geelani’s telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Pakistani diplomacy said in a summary of the conversation that they “agreed to de-escalate the situation.”

“The two foreign ministers agreed that cooperation and coordination in counter-terrorism and other areas of common interest should be strengthened,” the Pakistani diplomats further said. In a statement, the Iranian minister, for his part, emphasized that “cooperation between the two countries in neutralizing and destroying terrorist camps in Pakistan is important.”

Iran and Pakistan, the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, have faced hidden insurgencies along their shared 1,000-mile border for decades and often accuse each other of allowing these insurgent groups to operate from their territories.