The guards are believed to have been taken into Pakistan after being kidnapped. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
However, there was no indication of how many of the five border guards had been released after Jaishul Adl, which operates in southeastern Iran, claimed last month to have executed one of them.
"The soldiers were handed over some hours ago by the Jaishul Adl to Iranian representatives in Pakistan," said the Fars news agency, quoting an unidentified security official.
For its part, Jaishul Adl announced the releases on its Twitter account.
"At the request of eminent Sunni clerics in Iran, the Iranian soldiers held hostage have been freed and handed over to a delegation of clerics," it said.
The five soldiers, who were serving their 24-month mandatory military service, were abducted in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, where Iran has been confronting the Jaishul Adl rebels.
Last month the group announced it had executed one of the five, Jamshid Danayifar, and warned of more executions to come unless Iran freed Sunni prisoners.
The Iranian authorities immediately denied the execution claim, insisting that all five soldiers were alive.
The guards are believed to have been taken into Pakistan after being kidnapped on February 6.
In mid-February, Iran warned that it could consider sending troops across the border to free the soldiers, and denounced what it called Pakistan's inability to secure its own borders.
Border guards chief Hossein Zolfaghari has admitted that there was "negligence" in the lead-up to the kidnapping, saying those responsible were suspended, with some facing prosecution.
Jaish-ul Adl took up arms in 2012 to fight for what it says are the rights of Iran's minority Sunni population.
Sistan-Baluchestan, which is home to a large Sunni minority, has been the scene of unrest in recent years fuelled by its alleged marginalisation by the predominantly Shia republic.
Jaishul Adl, whose name in Arabic means "Army of Justice," has claimed several attacks against Iranians in the region. These include the assassination of a local prosecutor and the killing of 14 border guards in an ambush in 2013.
COMMENTS (12)
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@Umer:
Do not rule out Britain.......
If we cannot control our borders and territories then someone else would. Such behavior with no shame but complete denial is an open invitation to world powers to act against these global terrorists.
Now suspend those Pakistani officials who were lying to the public...
Looks like we believe in "badnaam hoongay to kya naam na ho ga." The thing is that we have stopped performing positively in every field including cricket, so now we have found another way to remain in news. What a come down and talibans want to take it to another height!
@A J KHAN: My dear they if they were abducted from inside Iran but kept in Pakistan, the case is serious against Pakistan.
@uzair malik yeah right extremist operating from your country, kidnapping other country soldiers into your areas is "their negligence". You have no control over your lawless border is "their negligence" Perfect. They negotiate directly and take them back from your land without your help. While your govt denied all time along "soldiers not here", are found to be inside your land and taken back safely to Iran without your knowledge is their negligence not yours right?
Iran has also tried to copy Afghanistan...Make Pakistan scapegoat of all their own follies...
Pakistan being a non-State, all its residents are non-State actors. A small fraction are active criminals, the rest are busy speech makers. When was it different?
Having the iranian officials accepted the negligence on their part and now that the guards have been recovered, Pakistan should reconsider it's relations with this country as it is never wise enough to be close to extremists especially after the threatening remarks over an issue that arose due to their own negligence.
Things are serious in this matter. 1. Why is Iran dragging Pakistan in its internal affairs. There is unrest in Iranian Balochistan and the guards were abducted inside Iran. 2. Iranian Official claim that the abducted guards were handed over in Pakistani territory. This is a confession of Iranian authorities that they crossed over the International Border without permission. This is a crime under UN Charter. 3. Iran has started training and arming Baloch Militants who are operating as BLA in Pakistan. Time has come that Pakistan should mend and improve its diplomatic ties with neighbors and at the same time show zero tolerance to crimes, criminals & illegal immigrants/entrants. All those who support criminals and terrorists should be eliminated before the criminals.
So they were in Pakistan. My God, where are we headed? India and Afghanistan had historical reasons, but now China and Iran are also having the same complains. Pakistan is becoming beacon of non-state actors. This is becoming our fame.
So Iranians were right after all that their soldiers were in Pakistan, while Pakistani government was denying it. Why is Pakistan heaven for all sort of extremist outfits?