Pakistan to recall its ambassador from Iran

The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday said Pakistan has decided to recall its ambassador from Iran and suspend all high-level visits ongoing or planned between the two countries following the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Tehran.

Iran claimed having targeted an Iranian terrorist group and none of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.

The development came after the FO, in a statement released late on Tuesday night, denounced the strikes in Pakistani territory that resulted in deaths of two innocent children while injuring of three girls. It termed the incident a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

In a press briefing in Islamabad on Wednesday, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran was a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

“This illegal act is completely unacceptable and has no justification whatsoever,” she asserted.

 “We have also informed them that Pakistan has decided to recall its ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, who is currently visiting Iran, may not return for the time being,” she said.

 “On Pakistan, none of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Amir-Abdollahian said Iran’s attack on “Pakistan’s soil” was a response to the Jaish Al Adl group’s recent deadly attacks, particularly on the city of Rask in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.

“The group has taken shelter in some parts of Pakistan’s Balochistan province,” he claimed, adding that “we’ve talked with Pakistani officials several times on this matter”.

The foreign minister said Iran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan but would not “allow the country’s national security to be compromised or played with”.

Earlier, Iran’s Deputy President for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Hosseini claimed Pakistan had been warned that they must prevent the entry into Iran of people who kill large numbers of people; it was natural to have the reaction of the Islamic republic.