UPDATE: Friday, Jan 19, 2024 · 4:35:04 PM +00:00
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Irontortoise
Looks like both Iran and Pakistan are trying to dial back the tension now. From Newsweek:
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it "condemns Pakistan's unbalanced and unacceptable drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two countries."
But Iran "differentiates between Pakistan's friendly and brotherly government and armed terrorists," Tehran said.
Iranian officials and the country's state media outlets "attempted to deescalate after the Pakistani airstrikes on Saravan, Sistan and Baluchistan Province," according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it had stressed to Turkey on Friday that its strikes early on Thursday were "aimed at terrorist camps inside Iran and that Pakistan has no interest or desire in escalation."
And from the BBC:
Pakistan has expressed its willingness to work with Iran on "all issues" in a call between their foreign ministers.
It comes after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other's territory.
…
On Friday, Pakistan said a telephone conversation was held between Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
"Foreign Minister Jilani expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation," the statement said.
"They also agreed to de-escalate the situation. The return of ambassadors of the two countries to their respective capitals was also discussed."
That didn’t take long. On Tuesday Iran launched an unprecedented cross-border missile attack against what it called a terrorist base of the Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice, a Sunni separatist organization) in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Pakistan reported the attack killed two children and injured three other girls, warning Iran of “serious consequences.” On Wednesday, Pakistan withdrew its ambassador from Teheran and "expelled" the Iranian ambassador to Islamabad (though he was already back in Iran at the time). Today Pakistan struck back with its own missile and drone attack against what it called “hideouts of the Baluchistan Liberation Army and the Baluchistan Liberation Front” across the border in southeastern Iran. And while Iran naturally condemned the Pakistani attack on its territory, neither side would seem to have an interest in escalating things any further at this point.
It should come as no surprise that the only people actually targeted in both these tit-for-tat attacks were Balochis on either side of their 900 km border who have been waging a low-intensity war against both Pakistan and Iran for decades. Like the Kurds, the Balochis are a people without a nation of their own, living mostly in western Pakistan (~7 million), eastern Iran (~2 million) and southern Afghanistan (~0.5 million). For more on the Balochi insurgencies from wikipedia:
In Pakistan's Balochistan province, insurgencies by Baloch nationalists have been fought in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and 1973–1977, with an ongoing low-level insurgency beginning in 2003.[45]
...
Baloch separatists argue they are economically marginalised and poor compared to the rest of Pakistan.[52] China has invested $46 billion in the region.[40] The Balochistan Liberation Army, designated as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the United Kingdom[53] and the United States,[54] is the most widely known Baloch separatist group. Since 2000 it has conducted numerous deadly attacks on Pakistani military troops, police, journalists, civilians and education institutions. Other separatist groups include Lashkar-e-Balochistan and the Balochistan Liberation United Front (BLUF).[55][56][57][58]
By 2005, the insurgency by Baloch separatists had once again resurged in Iran. The fight over the Iranian Baloch region bordering Pakistan has "not gained" as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan.[59][60] Though since the mass unrest in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, protests and unrest in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province have surged, resulting in a bloody crackdown by the Iranian regime on its Baloch population.[61] Human rights activists have accused nationalist militants, Government of Pakistan and Iran of human rights abuses in its suppression of the insurgency.[62]