Blog

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan next week amid tensions between the two nations. This comes after the neighbours exchanged missile strikes last week, targeting what they said were militant targets.

Amir-Abdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani held a phone conversation today, and the countries have also agreed to send their envoys back to each other’s capitals.

In a joint press statement, Pakistan and Iran said, “Following the telephone conversation between the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has been mutually agreed that ambassadors of both countries may return to their respective posts by 26 January 2024.”

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Jilani, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, will undertake a visit to Pakistan on 29 January 2024, Islamabad said.

The relationship between Pakistan and Iran worsened in recent weeks due to a series of tit-for-tat military strikes carried out on each other’s territories. Islamabad said it hit bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army, while Tehran said its missiles struck militants from the Jaish al Adl (JAA) group. Iran said the strikes in a border village on its territory killed nine people, including four children. Pakistan said the Iranian attack had killed two children.

The militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Pakistan had recalled its ambassador to Tehran and had not allowed the Iranian envoy to return to Islamabad, as well as cancelling all high-level diplomatic and trade engagements.

Tune In