The Iranian Foreign Minister is visiting Pakistan on Monday for discussions aimed at easing tensions arising from the recent exchange of deadly strikes on the border between the two countries.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Islamabad on Sunday evening, according to images released by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, which indicated that he would meet his Pakistani counterpart, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.
Relations between the two neighbors suddenly deteriorated when Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on January 16 against a
“terrorist”
group on Pakistani soil.
Reciprocal bombings
Pakistan responded two days later by targeting
“terrorist hideouts”
in Iran.
These two attacks in the border region of Baluchistan, shared between the two countries, left a total of 11 dead, mainly women and children, according to the authorities.
These reciprocal bombings had caused concern in the international community at a time when the Middle East is shaken by the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.
In protest, Pakistan recalled its ambassador and announced that the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, who was in his country, would be prevented from returning to Islamabad.
After a few days of disagreement, the two countries finally announced on January 22 the return to normal in their relations and the next visit of the head of Iranian diplomacy to Islamabad.
On Saturday, however, gunmen killed nine people, presented as Pakistani by Islamabad, in Sistan-Baluchistan province, in southeastern Iran.
Iran and Pakistan frequently accuse each other of allowing rebel groups to operate from each other's territory to launch attacks.