- Iranian guards claim death of two local workers in ‘cross-border’ attack
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has claimed in a statement that militants ‘based in Pakistan’ have fired projectiles at Iran’s border region of Saravan, killing two local workers.
“On Saturday afternoon, a terrorist team associated with foreign intelligence services fired at Iran’s borders in the Saravan region with indirect fire weapons and light weaponry,” according to a statement issued here on Sunday.
“The combatants of the IRGC ground force at the Quds base reacted to the terrorist move, killing one of the terrorists and wounding two others,” it said. The statement claimed that other members of the group fled deeper into the Pakistani territory after facing retaliation.
On Wednesday, IRGC commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said that his forces would target terrorists anywhere they chose. “We will target counter-revolutionary forces, outlaws and terrorists who are being trained and are planning and plotting to destabilise our border regions anywhere in the world,” he said.
In May, the Foreign Office in Islamabad summoned Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost to convey Pakistan’s concerns regarding a warning issued by Maj Gen Mohammad Baqeri that Tehran would hit ‘militant safe havens’ inside Pakistan if the government did not confront militants who carried out cross-border attacks last month.
FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria urged Iran to refrain from making statements that would harm relations. He said an agreement had already been reached to enhance cooperation on border issues during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on May 3. Pakistan had assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.