Deputy FM Says Pakistan Should Account for Saravan Terrorist Incident
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Pakistan should respect its international and legal obligations by accounting for the recent terrorist attack orchestrated from within its territory on an Iranian border post that claimed the lives of more than a dozen border guards, said an Iranian deputy foreign minister.
This comes after a group of armed men carried out an ambush attack on October 25 on a border post in Gazbostan, near Iran’s southeastern city of Saravan, on the border with Pakistan, which has almost no control over its side of the shared frontier with Iran, killing 14 border guards and injuring six others.
"The fact that such incidents take place on the border and bandits retreat to the neighboring country after committing their crimes make that country responsible and it cannot shirk responsibility," said Hassan Qashqavi, deputy foreign minister for consular and Iranian expatriates affairs, on Wednesday.
Iran and Pakistan signed a security agreement in February, intended to take strict measures to combat terrorism as well as human and drug trafficking and other activities posing a threat to the national security of either country.
Also, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Saleh Jokar has criticized the Pakistani government for lax security along its border with Iran, which has turned Pakistan into a safe haven for terrorists and bandits.
He further added that the Iranian parliament plans to discuss a security agreement between Tehran and Islamabad in the near future, which would allow Iranian armed forces to enter Pakistani territory for counter-terrorism operations.
On Tuesday, Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said Tehran expects Pakistan to abide by the terms of a bilateral security agreement and extradite those who were behind the deadly incident, in which 14 Iranian border guards were killed.
On Friday, Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayers Leader Ahmad Khatami said the Pakistani government was responsible for the deadly attack on Iranian border guards.
“The government of Pakistan should take immediate action against terrorist organizations operating on the soil of this country. Unfortunately Pakistan has become the main harbor of terrorists in the Middle East region. Most insurgent groups have established offices and centers in Pakistan,” said Ahmad Khatami.
