China urges Iran, Pakistan to ‘exercise restraint’ after deadly airstrike
US condemns Iran’s military strikes on Pakistan, Iraq, Syria
Iranian state media said on Tuesday that its missiles targeted two bases of militant group Jaish al-Adl,
Pakistan on Wednesday said it will recall its ambassador in Tehran after Iran violated its airspace, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
Pakistan will also not allow to Iran’s envoy in Islamabad, who is visiting his home country, to return, the ministry’s spokesperson said in a statement.
She said the violation was an unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty and was “unacceptable.”
“Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act,” she said.
Pakistan said the incident resulted in the death of two children.
Iranian state media said on Tuesday that its missiles targeted two bases of militant group Jaish al-Adl, which has mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area of the two neighbors.
“We call on both sides to exercise restraint, avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension and work together to maintain peace and stability,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing.
“We consider both Iran and Pakistan as close neighbors and major Islamic countries,” she said.
Both Iran and Pakistan are close partners of Beijing and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Pakistan denounced the strike, near the nations’ shared border late on Tuesday, as “completely unacceptable,” saying it was unprovoked.
Iran offered no immediate official comment but its state-run Nour News agency said the attack destroyed the Pakistan headquarters of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).
Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.
The strike came after Iran launched missile attacks on “spy headquarters” and “terrorist” targets in Syria, and in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
The Iranian strikes add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and Yemen’s Houthi militia attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians.
The United States on Wednesday condemned recent Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, which Tehran has claimed were carried out against “anti-Iranian terrorist groups.”
“So we do condemn those strikes. We’ve seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday and blocked Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad after the airstrike, which it said killed two children in the west of the country.
The raid occurred late Tuesday after similar attacks in Iraq and Syria.
Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch called the attack near the countries’ shared border “unprovoked” and a breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Iranian news agency Mehr News said the “missile and drone” attack targeted the Pakistan headquarters of Jaish al-Adl, a group formed in 2012 and blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group.
Jaish al-Adl has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.
Iran said the other missile attacks targeted “spy headquarters” and “terrorist” targets in Syria, and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
The strikes come as the Middle East has been rocked by the Israel-Gaza crisis, and attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea.
In Washington, Miller said: “I think it is a little rich for, 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, claimed that it needs to take these actions to counter terrorism.”