Iran’s airstrikes inside Pakistan that targeted bases for a militant Sunni separatist group were meant to demonstrate Tehran’s capabilities to the United States, which it believes is supporting the terror outfits to keep region unstable, top intelligence sources told News18.
Tuesday’s airstrikes in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province imperiled diplomatic relations between the two neighbours. Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks.
Islamabad denounced the attack as a “blatant violation” of its airspace and said it killed two children.
The attack raised the threat of violence spreading in a Middle East unsettled by Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Iran also staged airstrikes late on Monday in Iraq and Syria over an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing that killed over 90 people earlier this month. Iraq recalled its ambassador from Iran for consultations, while Pakistan too recalled its ambassador to Tehran.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s retaliatory airstrikes on Iran killed four children and three women, a local official told Iranian state television.
“Iranians believe that the US is supporting these terror outfits to keep the region unstable to make countries here fragile and dependent on the US. With this attack, Iran clearly sent a signal that it can fight on many fronts if needed. They know that Biden can’t start a war and they want to take maximum advantage of the election year in the US,” an intelligence official said.
“The timing of the Iranian attack is well-thought. The Iranian audience is Washington, not the OIC or Saudi Arabia.”
Iranian state media reports, which were later withdrawn without explanation, said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard targeted bases in Pakistan belonging to the militant group Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice”.
Iran’s defense minister also said Wednesday that Iran would respond to any threats against itself, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Without naming any country, Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said: “We will show reaction to threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran from any region. The reaction will be corresponding, harsh and strong.”
Jaish al-Adl, which seeks an independent Balochistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, acknowledged the assault in a statement shared online.
Six bomb-carrying drones and rockets struck homes that the militants claim housed children and wives of their fighters. Jaish al-Adl said the attack killed two children and wounded two women and a teenage girl.
Comments
0 comment