The Iranian deputy foreign minister stressed Tehran’s firm will to root out terrorist groups alongside Iran-Pakistan border, saying the ministry has done its best to clarify the fate of the five Iranian border guards who were abducted in Sistan and Baluchistan province earlier this month.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi said necessary consultations for the release of the abducted Iranian border guards were underway.
The Iranian official also stated that the results of the consultations will not be publicised until the issue is finalised.
“We hope that the incident will result in the freedom of our loved ones as it was the case in previous incidents,” Qashqavi said.
Earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Abdollahi had said that Iran is planning to send a delegation to Islamabad soon to pursue the case of its abducted border guards.
Last Saturday, the outlawed Jeish Al-Adl, a radical Sunni-Wahhabi movement, claimed responsibility for the abduction of 5 Iranian border guards in Southeastern Iran.
The Iranian deputy FM underlined that the members of the terrorist group had crossed the border into Iran and returned to Pakistani soil after kidnapping Iran’s border guards.
Abdollahi criticised the Pakistani government for failing to control the border and said, “Islamabad has to fulfill its commitments under the security agreement between the two countries”.
The Jeish Al-Adl released a photo of the kidnapped border guards on its Tweeter page and claimed the responsibility for their abduction on February 8.
Earlier, reports said that they had been transferred to Pakistan which has a long border with Iran in the Southeastern parts of the country.
In the early hours of November 6, 2013, unknown assailants had killed the prosecutor of Zabol city in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Mousa Nouri, and his driver while they were on their way to work.
Jeish Al-Adl had also killed 14 Iranian border guards two weeks before Nouri’s terror incident.
