Iranian FM due in Islamabad day after gunmen kill nine Pakistanis in southeast Iran amid strained ties

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian is due to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday night, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said, a day after gunmen killed nine Pakistanis in southeast Iran amid strained ties between the two neighbors.
The deceased Pakistanis, who had been working as laborers, were killed in Iran’s restive southeastern border area of Saravan, according to relatives of the victims.
The attack in Saravan came a day after Pakistani and Iranian ambassadors returned to their posts after being recalled when both countries exchanged missile strikes last week at what they said were militant targets.
The strikes were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years, however, both countries quickly moved to de-escalate tensions following a telephonic conversation between their foreign ministers.
During the visit, FM Abdollahian would meet his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani and other Pakistani officials to address the issues of mutual concern, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
“He [Iranian foreign minister] will arrive in Islamabad later tonight on a visit to Pakistan,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, told Arab News on Sunday.
Baloch said FM Abdollahian was visiting Pakistan upon the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, which was extended during a telephonic conversation between the two figures held last week.
Asked about the significance of the visit, Naghmana Hashmi, a former Pakistani diplomat, said it was important with regard to the recent developments and their possible impact on the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In the last few decades, she noted, both countries had seen a rise in militancy, which needed to be addressed at the highest level.
“There have been some issues which have more to do with the overall geostrategic and geopolitical situation that has evolved, particularly in our neighborhood,” she told Arab News.
“After the recent attacks, the two governments promptly established contact, initiating a hectic diplomatic effort, as we cannot afford to have either Iran or Pakistan open another front in the region.”
Hashmi said any military action between the two neighbors would not only impact Pakistan, but also extend consequences to Iran and the broader Middle East region.
“It is important to sit down and discuss common concerns and find ways out to address them,” she added.
Syed Muhammad Ali, a Pakistani security expert, said the visit would allow both countries to timely address the issues, particularly the recent rise in militant attacks as well as the killing of Pakistani nationals in Saravan.
“Pakistan expects Iran to timely identify those responsible and bring them to justice and ensure that such terrorist attacks neither affect the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran nor harm major regional economic, trade and connectivity projects which will benefit both nations,” he told Arab News.