DNA

DAVOS, JAN 17: Iran’s foreign minister has said that the country’s Tuesday missile attack on areas in Pakistan adjacent to Iranian borders was directed at the so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group and no Pakistani national was targeted.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said members of the terrorist group are Iranians who have taken shelters in Pakistan and that Tehran had repeatedly warned Islamabad to prevent their anti-Iran cross-border operations.

“None of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones,” he said.

“The so-called Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted,” he said, adding that this was a response to the recent attacks on Iran by the group, which he said is linked to Israel.

The minister also touched on Iran’s attack into Iraq’s Kurdistan region, saying they were retaliation for recent anti-Iran attacks staged by Israel’s Mossad.

The Iranian minister said Tehran has shared intelligence with Iraq about Mossad activities in Iraq’s Kurdistan, adding that Israel is an enemy of both Iraq and Iran.

He cited a 2023 security pact between Iran and Iraq, saying it obliges Iraqi officials not to allow Iran’s security to be threatened from their soil.

The top Iranian diplomat said Iran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq but would strongly react to any attack on its national security.

“We respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq, but we do not allow our national security to be compromised, and we have no compunction about [dealing with] terrorist parties inside Pakistan and Israeli movements in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.”

He said the attacks were aimed at protecting the security of Iran, its neighbors, and also the wider region.

“What we did was aimed at boosting the security of Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and the region. We consider the security of Iraq and Pakistan to be that of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.