Escalating tension: Iran warns Pakistan after execution of soldier
President Rowhani calls for serious and swift action in a telephone call with Prime Minister Nawaz.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani. PHOTO: AFP
TEHRAN/ISLAMABAD:
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on Wednesday issued a warning to Islamabad after reports emerged that one of the five Iranian border guards abducted and taken across the border into Pakistan by a militant group had been executed.
In a telephone call with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Iranian president demanded ‘serious and swift action’ by Pakistan to secure the release of the soldiers.
“We expect to hear good news in this regard,” Rowhani said, while calling for “a joint action by both countries against terrorists,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
For his part, Nawaz said the issue was of ‘utmost importance’ to his government and that he was “prepared to boost action to free the soldiers.”
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also expressed ‘grave concern’ about the fate of Jamshid Danayifar, who was kidnapped along with four other border guards on February 6 by militant group Jaishul Adl.
“We did all we could to secure their release,” Zarif told state television after a cabinet meeting. “But it is disappointing that the Pakistani government has failed to secure its borders, and allows terrorists to operate on its soil.”
Zarif’s remarks came after his ministry summoned Pakistani ambassador Nour Mohammad Jadmani, demanding ‘swift and serious action’ to secure the release of the soldiers, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli meanwhile warned – without elaborating – that Iran ‘reserves the right to utilise all its ability in its border areas’.
Jaish-ul Adl said on its website on Sunday that Danayifar had been killed, warning of further executions should Tehran refuse to ‘release Sunni prisoners’.
Iran’s interior ministry says it is awaiting Islamabad’s official position amid media reports that local Pakistani authorities have confirmed the group’s claim.
The rebel group, which took up arms in 2012 to fight for what it says are the rights of Iran’s minority Sunni population, is active in the restive Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In November it claimed responsibility for killing a local prosecutor, a month after its rebels killed 14 Iranian border guards in an ambush.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned in a Tuesday statement the reported killing as an ‘appalling act’ and urged that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
A spokesman for the US State Department, Alan Eyre, called for the ‘swift release’ of the abducted soldiers while expressing hope the reported execution – that came as Iran was celebrating its Persian New Year – was not true.
Pakistan’s reaction
Pakistan has condemned the reported killing of one of the five Iranian border guards abducted in the Sistan-Balochestan province of Iran last month.
“Pakistan is deeply saddened over the reported killing. We condemn this terrorist act, and share the grief and agony of the families of the martyr and the other border guards,” said a statement issued here on Wednesday by foreign ministry.
It said in the wake of the border incident, the Government of Pakistan extended all possible support in tracking the whereabouts of the missing Iranian border guards.
During the last meeting of the Joint Border Commission in Quetta on February 19-20, a Border Coordination Committee was also established to assist with the effort, it added.
“The Government of Pakistan stands ready to act on any credible and actionable intelligence made available to it. However, our investigations have neither corroborated nor established the entry into or presence within Pakistani territory of the Iranian border guards,” it maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2014.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on Wednesday issued a warning to Islamabad after reports emerged that one of the five Iranian border guards abducted and taken across the border into Pakistan by a militant group had been executed.
In a telephone call with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Iranian president demanded ‘serious and swift action’ by Pakistan to secure the release of the soldiers.
“We expect to hear good news in this regard,” Rowhani said, while calling for “a joint action by both countries against terrorists,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
For his part, Nawaz said the issue was of ‘utmost importance’ to his government and that he was “prepared to boost action to free the soldiers.”
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also expressed ‘grave concern’ about the fate of Jamshid Danayifar, who was kidnapped along with four other border guards on February 6 by militant group Jaishul Adl.
“We did all we could to secure their release,” Zarif told state television after a cabinet meeting. “But it is disappointing that the Pakistani government has failed to secure its borders, and allows terrorists to operate on its soil.”
Zarif’s remarks came after his ministry summoned Pakistani ambassador Nour Mohammad Jadmani, demanding ‘swift and serious action’ to secure the release of the soldiers, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli meanwhile warned – without elaborating – that Iran ‘reserves the right to utilise all its ability in its border areas’.
Jaish-ul Adl said on its website on Sunday that Danayifar had been killed, warning of further executions should Tehran refuse to ‘release Sunni prisoners’.
Iran’s interior ministry says it is awaiting Islamabad’s official position amid media reports that local Pakistani authorities have confirmed the group’s claim.
The rebel group, which took up arms in 2012 to fight for what it says are the rights of Iran’s minority Sunni population, is active in the restive Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In November it claimed responsibility for killing a local prosecutor, a month after its rebels killed 14 Iranian border guards in an ambush.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned in a Tuesday statement the reported killing as an ‘appalling act’ and urged that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
A spokesman for the US State Department, Alan Eyre, called for the ‘swift release’ of the abducted soldiers while expressing hope the reported execution – that came as Iran was celebrating its Persian New Year – was not true.
Pakistan’s reaction
Pakistan has condemned the reported killing of one of the five Iranian border guards abducted in the Sistan-Balochestan province of Iran last month.
“Pakistan is deeply saddened over the reported killing. We condemn this terrorist act, and share the grief and agony of the families of the martyr and the other border guards,” said a statement issued here on Wednesday by foreign ministry.
It said in the wake of the border incident, the Government of Pakistan extended all possible support in tracking the whereabouts of the missing Iranian border guards.
During the last meeting of the Joint Border Commission in Quetta on February 19-20, a Border Coordination Committee was also established to assist with the effort, it added.
“The Government of Pakistan stands ready to act on any credible and actionable intelligence made available to it. However, our investigations have neither corroborated nor established the entry into or presence within Pakistani territory of the Iranian border guards,” it maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2014.