Gunmen in Iran kill nine Pakistanis, days after tit-for-tat strikes
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (right) meeting Pakistan's new ambassador Muhammad Mudassir Tipu (left) in Teheran, on Jan 27, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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DUBAI – Unidentified gunmen killed nine Pakistani workers in a restive south-eastern border area of Iran on Jan 27, Pakistan’s ambassador and Iranian state media said, amid efforts by the two countries to mend ties after tit-for-tat attacks.
“Deeply shocked by horrifying killing of nine Pakistanis in Saravan. Embassy will extend full support to bereaved families,” Pakistani Ambassador to Teheran Muhammad Mudassir Tipu said on social media platform X.
“We called upon Iran to extend full cooperation in the matter.”
Iranian state media said the police were looking for the three gunmen who escaped after the shooting.
The Baluch rights group Haalvash said on its website that the victims were Pakistani labourers who lived at a car repair shop where they worked. Three others were wounded, it added.
State media said no individuals or groups had claimed responsibility for the shootings in Saravan in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
“It is a horrifying and despicable incident, and we condemn it unequivocally,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.
“We are in touch with Iranian authorities and have underscored the need to immediately investigate the incident and hold to account those involved.”
The shooting occurred ahead of a planned visit on Jan 29 to Pakistan by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the shootings.
“Iran and Pakistan won’t allow enemies to damage the brotherly ties between the two countries,” he said in a statement.
State media said the Pakistani and Iranian ambassadors were returning to their postings after being recalled when the neighbouring countries exchanged missile strikes recently
“The Iran-Pakistan border creates an opportunity for economic exchanges... and must be protected against any insecurity,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Mr Mudassir Tipu as he received the ambassador’s credentials on Jan 27, state media reported.
The impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan region has long been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and separatist militants and smugglers carrying opium from Afghanistan, the world’s top producer of the drug.
Iran has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, and this has led to increasing fuel smuggling to Pakistan and Afghanistan despite a crackdown by Iranian border guards. REUTERS
