Iran’s denial of espionage

Uzair Baloch, leader of the Lyari gang war, has kept the Pakistani population in a world of mystery about his fame and actions. In recent developments, it was revealed that Baloch had released a confessional statement explaining that he had been providing sensitive data to foreign agents. This was produced after the Sindh government created a joint investigation team to handle the case in 2016. The foreign agents were supposedly Iranian intelligence officers but the Iranian embassy in Islamabad has vehemently denied the allegations calling them rumours. The embassy also believes there is a vilification campaign out to create mistrust for its representative among the Pakistani population. These recent developments create an ominous picture for future relations between the two countries, which have enjoyed bonhomie since Pakistan’s inception.

Baloch’s name will forever be a stain on Pakistan’s name and politics because it is a name associated with 40 cases in anti-terrorism courts as well as with a political party, whose leader was also a former president of this country. Details in his 13-page long confessional report about providing information to Iran on Karachi’s security and the country’s military officials are puzzling and considering that Pakistan and Iran are economic partners, among other things, the relationship could potentially suffer great harm. The joint investigation team still maintains Baloch be tried for espionage through military courts. Nevertheless, the case requires a much deeper investigation taking into account Iran’s rejection of Baloch’s supposed claims and this should be achieved through the regular criminal justice system because a military court trial will not reveal details to the public. The public has a right to transparency of the trial as this man allegedly caused many of the murders in the city in previous years. It will be intriguing to follow this case, given Iran’s denial of espionage most recently, especially in terms of Pakistan’s response to the denial.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2017.

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