New Delhi [India], January 17 (ANI): Following Iran’s strikes on a terrorist group in Balochistan, security and foreign affairs experts have said that the question needs to be asked why neighbours of Pakistan are blaming it for harbouring terrorists and underlined that the attack is a very important message that Tehran has sent.
Sushant Sareen, a foreign affairs expert and Senior Fellow, ORF, said that it is not just Iran but India and Afghanistan have constant complaints against Pakistan. He said even China, otherwise an ally of Islamabad, has concerns about the presence of militants and Uyghur terrorists in Pakistan.
“I think the question that really needs to be asked is why is it that virtually every neighbour of Pakistan is blaming it for harbouring terrorists? Iran was actually attacking a notorious terrorist group. Iran has a problem with Pakistan and claims that Pakistan is harbouring terrorists. In fact, Afghanistan is blaming Pakistan for harbouring Daesh. India has constant complaints against Pakistan. China also has concerns about the presence of militants and Uyghur terrorists in Pakistan,” Sareen told ANI.
“So clearly, one is this question that Pakistan has become a hub of terrorism in the region. Now, Iran has attacked them because I think partly the threshold of tolerance was crossed in the attack in Kerman…So Iran has been wanting to lash out for a fair bit of time. Just yesterday itself, they also launched attacks in Iraq and Syria…But nevertheless, they did attack another country, albeit in somewhat ungoverned spaces, although Erbil in Iraq is not exactly ungoverned.”
Iran launched air strikes on Tuesday at the headquarters of a terrorist group opposed to Tehran with drones and missiles in Pakistan, in which two “important headquarters” of Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan were “destroyed,” Al Arabiya News reported citing Tasnim news agency.
Sareen said the attack on headquarters of a terrorist group in Pakistan is an important message sent by Iran.
“The attack in Pakistan, I think, is a very important message that the Iranians are sending, that they will not allow the boxing of Iran through these terrorist organizations or para-state groups, something which Iran itself has been accused of doing through its support for Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. Iran has also been accused of the same, but Iran does not want the same to happen to it. And I think there is a sense in Iran that it’s being encircled and it wants to break out of that encirclement, and that is why it’s lashing out. But I think the Iranians also made a calculation that these attacks will probably not invite any real response from the places they’ve attacked. Syria is in no position to attack Iran. Neither is Iraq,” Sareen said.
He said Pakistan dispensation already has three fronts open – against India and Afghanistan and against Imran Khan – “and now they will have another front against Iran”.
“I think Iranians have calculated that the Pakistanis would not want to open a new front because Iran has a lot of assets inside Pakistan. And if they want, they have the potential to create a lot of trouble in Pakistan. So I think the Pakistanis will also be very careful, and the Pakistanis will probably simply underplay the magnitude of what has happened,” he said.
“Some of it you can already make out from the Pakistani media, which is focusing on violations of airspace and not on the fact that missiles and drones have been fired. And it’s a major escalation. It’s really an attack on Pakistani soil. They’re not focusing on that. They’re talking about violations of airspace as though a plane has crossed a certain red line and then gone back. So they seem to be playing it down,” he noted.
Defence expert Qamar Agha said that Iran feels that militant activities were “deliberately organised at the behest of the big powers to divert Iran’s attention from incidents taking place in the Middle-East”.
“Jaish al-Adl is a militant Islamic organization based in Pakistan and has been involved in terror activities in the bordering region of Balochistan. They have been doing this type of activity for quite some time. Iran has warned number of times that Pakistan should refrain or these militant organizations should be contained in Pakistan,” he said.
“But according to the Iranian officials, they have not taken any serious action against these groups. Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni militant Islamic group…it is an offshoot of the Jundallah group. Jundallah used to be very strong militant organization based in Pakistan which was also responsible for the killing of large number of Shias within Balochistan as well as in Iran. These groups have been operating for a number of years in this region. Iran thinks these militant activities at the moment were deliberately organized at the behest of the big powers to divert Iran’s attention from incidents taking place in Middle East, so that it’s a well-planned targeted attempt by the forces which are opposed to Islamic revolution in Iran. This is what Iranians are saying,” he added.
He said Pakistan has demanded an explanation from Iran and lodged a protest.
“We are still waiting for details to come. Iran has a zero tolerance policy towards this type of militancy,” he said.
Former diplomat KP Fabian said that at a time when Pakistan is close to its general elections, a military retaliation from Islamabad is not expected.
“…Pakistan is going to have an election. So I personally don’t expect any military retaliation from Pakistan…Pakistan has pointed out that there are many active channels of communication between Iran and Pakistan. Foreign office, intelligence and other channels. So Iran could have advised – look, do something about it, throw them…you know, we are going to do it. So obviously, Iran, to my mind, acted in haste and without that judgment which Iranians, the great chess players, are supposed to show,” he said.
The strikes by Iran were concentrated in an area in Pakistan’s Balochistan where “one of the largest headquarters” of Jaish al-Adl was located.
Designated as a “terrorist” organization by Iran, Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni terrorist group that operates in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Al Arabiya News reported. Over the years, Jaish al-Adl has launched numerous attacks on Iranian security forces.
In December, Jaish al-Adl took responsibility for an attack on a police station in Sistan-Balochistan that claimed the lives of at least 11 police personnel, according to Al Arabiya News.
Following Iran launching missiles in Pakistan, Islamabad on Wednesday expelled the Iranian ambassador and recalled its ambassador from Tehran, Geo News reported.
“Pakistan has decided to recall its ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return for the time being,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, addressing a press briefing in Islamabad. (ANI)
