Tehran condemns terrorist attack on Pakistanis in Sistan and Baluchestan
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a terrorist attack in the country’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, in which eight Pakistanis were killed.
Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described the killing of innocent people as a criminal act that contradicts all Islamic principles and humanitarian norms.
He also offered condolences to the families of the victims and the government and people of Pakistan and assured that Iran’s authorities will spare no effort to identify the perpetrators of the crime.
The attack happened in the province’s city of Mehrestan.
Pakistan has been battling a decades-long insurgency in its impoverished Balochistan Province, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned the "brutal killings of eight Pakistanis," calling on Tehran to "immediately arrest the culprits, give them appropriate punishment, and make the reasons behind this brutal act public."
The Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), a Pakistani separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The eight men killed were from Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
Armed separatists in the area have in recent months intensified attacks on workers from other provinces, particularly Punjabis who are viewed as having strong links to the military.
Iran's embassy in Pakistan also confirmed the death toll and condemned the attack as "terrorism", calling, like Islamabad, for "joint efforts" to combat the violence.
Nine Pakistanis were also killed in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province in January 2024.