Pakistan has reported the killing of nine Pakistanis in a restive southeastern border area of Iran as part of efforts by the two countries to mend ties after recent tit-for-tat attacks. The Pakistani ambassador to Tehran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipi, called upon Iran to extend full cooperation in the matter. Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported the attack in Saravan in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which identified the dead only as foreign nationals and said no individuals or groups had claimed responsibility for the shootings. The province’s deputy governor, Alireza Marhamati, confirmed the toll of nine deaths and said three others were wounded.
Pakistani laborers
The Baluch rights group Haalvash claimed that the victims were Pakistani laborers who lived at a car repair shop where they worked. Pakistan’s foreign ministry called the attack a “terrorist incident” and called for an immediate investigation and holding those involved accountable. The shootings occurred as Iranian state media reported that the Pakistani and Iranian ambassadors were returning to their postings after being recalled when the neighboring countries exchanged missile attacks last week aimed at what each said were armed group targets.
Sistan-Baluchistan, one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim provinces in Shia-dominated Iran, has seen persistent unrest involving cross-border drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi ethnic minority, and armed groups. On January 18, Pakistan launched air raids on “militant targets” in Iran, two days after Iran had launched attacks on its territory.
Unidentified gunmen killed nine Pakistani workers in a restive southeastern border area of Iran on Saturday, Pakistan’s ambassador and Iranian state media said, amid efforts by the two countries to mend ties after tit-for-tat attacks.
“Deeply shocked by the horrifying killing of nine Pakistanis in Saravan. Embassy will extend full support to bereaved families,” the Pakistani ambassador to Tehran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, said on the X platform. “We called upon Iran to extend full cooperation in the matter.”
Iranian state
Iranian state media said police were looking for the three gunmen who escaped after the shooting.
The Baluch rights group Haalvash said on its website that the victims were Pakistani labourers who lived at an auto repair shop where they worked. Three others were wounded, it said.
State media said no individuals or groups had claimed responsibility for the shootings in Saravan in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
“It is a horrifying and despicable incident, and we condemn it unequivocally,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said. “We are in touch with Iranian authorities and have underscored the need to immediately investigate the incident and hold those involved to account.”
The shooting occurred ahead of a planned visit on Monday to Pakistan by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani condemned the shootings.
“Iran and Pakistan won’t allow enemies to damage the brotherly ties between the two countries,” he said in a statement.
State media said the Pakistani and Iranian ambassadors were returning to their postings after being recalled when the neighboring countries exchanged missile strikes last week aimed at what each said were militant targets.
Iran-Pakistan border
“The Iran-Pakistan border creates an opportunity for economic exchanges… and must be protected against any insecurity,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Mudassir Tipu as he received the ambassador’s credentials on Saturday, state media reported.
The impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan region has long been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and separatist militants and smugglers carrying opium from Afghanistan, the world’s top producer of the drug.
Iran has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, and this has also led to increased fuel smuggling to Pakistan and Afghanistan, despite a crackdown by Iranian border guards.
