The Pakistani military said the strikes were conducted in pursuance of its vow to retaliate against Iranian strikes in its southwestern Baluchistan province that killed two children, according to Pakistan authorities.
The new front of contention amid the tensed world order, particularly the Middle East, prompted the United States, and neighbouring China and India to issue statements on the escalation between Tehran and Islamabad.
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Reacting to Iran’s airstrikes and reiterating its zero-tolerance stance against terrorism, India said it understands the actions that countries take in self-defence.
“This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self defence,” ministry of external affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in an official statement.
China on Thursday offered to play a “constructive role” to phase out border tension between Pakistan and Iran. However, a Chinese spokesperson said she was not aware of Islamabad’s retaliatory strikes.
“Did you say that Pakistan launched strikes on Iran? I’m not aware of this,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a media briefing when asked whether China is aware of Pakistan airstrikes inside Iran.
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“But we are paying great attention to this and China always believes that relations between countries should be handled based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law,” Mao said.
Mao said China always believes relations between countries should be tackled on principles of the UN Charter and international law.
“And we think all parties should respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries,” she said.
Sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and protected, she said.
“Iran and Pakistan are close neighbours and countries with influence. We hope both parties can exercise restraint and calmness and avoid escalation if they need we are ready to play a constructive role in easing the situation”, she said.
The United States, Iran’s stern rival ever since the 1979 Islamic revolution, has categorially condemned Tehran’s strike on the Pakistani land.
The US condemned Iranian strikes not only in Pakistan but also in Iraq and Syria.
US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said Iran, in the past couple of days, has violated the sovereign borders of three of its neighbours.
“We do condemn those strikes. We’ve seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple days. And I will say that the difference is the context very much matters. I think it is a little rich for at one – on one hand, Iran to be the leading funder of terrorism in the region, the leading funder of instability in the region; and on the other hand, claim that it needs to take this action – these actions to counter terrorism.”
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On being asked about Pakistan’s statement that they reserve the retaliation right against Iranian Government, Miller said, “We think, we hope that that’s an issue that can be peacefully resolved.”
Iran had been carrying out strikes in the region, even before its cross-border action into Pakistan.
It launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage centre. Baghdad and Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Tehran after the strikes, fueling tension in the already boiling West Asia.
Russia, which sees the US as its adversary in its war against Ukraine, and has been trying to muster support from anti-Pentagon nations to corner Washington and survive the West-imposed sanctions, has called on Iran and Pakistan to show maximum restraint and solve their differences through diplomacy or risk playing into the hands of those who would like to see the region descend into chaos.
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“It is regrettable that this is happening between friendly SCO countries, with which we are developing partnership relations. Further aggravation of the situation plays into the hands of those who are not interested in peace, stability and security in the region,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
(With agencies input)
