The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has recovered three Pakistanis kidnapped in Iran, and arrested a suspect.
According to the FIA spokesperson, three citizens who had gone on pilgrimage visas were abducted on arrival in Iran, adding that human traffickers received Rs 20 lakh for the release of the citizens.
He also revealed that the kidnappers demanded more money by sending videos of torture on the hostages to their families.
The recovered persons include Muhammad Adnan, Kashif Mehboob and Muhammad Dawood.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has stated that the United States does not want the gas pipeline project between Pakistan and Iran to continue. “We do not support this pipeline going forward,” he said.
The State Department’s statement came right after Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik hinted that Pakistan would “vigorously” present its case to seek US sanctions waiver for the pipeline.
It is also important to highlight that a few days ago, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson said that Pakistan does not require any country’s permission to move forward with a regional project.
“We always advise everyone that doing business with Iran runs the risk of touching upon and coming in contact with our sanctions, and would advise everyone to consider that very carefully,” said Matthew Miller.
The project began in 2009 and to this day Pakistan has not completed any major portion of construction whereas Iran has completed 900-kilometres of pipeline. That’s also why Iran issued a third notice to Pakistan that it would approach arbitration court to seek penalties.
Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moqaddam has said that the United States may create obstructions in the payment procedure of Pak-Iran gas project, however, both countries could find a solution to this.
The Ambassador’s statement came after US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, in a congressional hearing, gave caustic remarks regarding the gas pipeline project and emphasized that the US would try to halt the mega project.
“I fully support the efforts by the US government to prevent this pipeline from happening,” he said during a congressional hearing on 19 March. “We are working toward that goal.” “We are tracking this planned pipeline between Iran and Pakistan … Honestly, I don’t know where the financing for such a project would come from. I don’t think that many international donors would be interested in funding such an endeavor,” the US official added, highlighting that the White House “will uphold both in letter and spirit all sanction laws related to Iran.”
The Iranian envoy pointed out that Iran had already completed its side of the agreement by constructing a 1,000 kilometers gas pipeline on its side and Pakistan had yet to start it. “The Iranian gas pipeline is in the wider interest of people of both countries,” he added.
Tehran, Iran – Iran began counting ballots on Saturday after a vote for parliament and a key clerical body, with local media estimating a low turnout and conservatives expected to dominate.
Friday’s elections were the first since widespread protests triggered by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd. She had been arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
Iran has also been badly affected by international sanctions that have led to an economic crisis since the last elections in 2020.
State TV reported early Saturday the “start of vote counting” after polling stations closed at midnight. Voting hours had been extended several times during the day, the official IRNA news agency reported.
A record figure of 15,200 hopefuls were competing for seats in the 290-member parliament. Another 144 candidates sought a place in the 88-member Assembly of Experts, which is exclusively made up of male Islamic scholars.
The Assembly selects or, if necessary, dismisses Iran’s supreme leader. Many potential candidates for the chamber were disqualified.
Local Fars news agency estimated turnout at “more than 40 percent”, among 61 million eligible voters.
President Ebrahim Raisi welcomed the voters’ “enthusiastic” participation as “another historic failure to (Iran’s) enemies,” according to IRNA.
Iran considers the United States, its Western allies and Israel enemies of the state and accuses them of seeking to intervene in its internal affairs.
Reformist daily Ham Mihan ran an opinion piece titled “The Silent Majority”, which said turnout was “estimated to be lower than” in previous elections.
Iran’s 2020 parliament was elected during the Covid pandemic with a turnout of 42.57 percent — the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A state TV poll had found more than half of respondents were indifferent about this year’s elections.
Candidates for parliament are vetted by a body, the Guardian Council, whose members are determined by the supreme leader.
The present parliament is dominated by conservatives and ultra-conservatives, and analysts expected a similar makeup in the new assembly.
Despite Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s appeal for people to cast ballots, many Iranians were split on whether or not to do so.
Former reformist president Mohammad Khatami was among people who avoided the poll, according to a coalition of parties called the Reform Front.
In February the conservative Javan daily quoted Khatami as saying Iran is “very far from free and competitive elections.”
Iran announced on Thursday the launch of a remote sensing and imaging satellite into orbit from Russia, according to state media.
The launch of “Pars-I” with the Russian Soyuz-2.1b launcher was broadcast live by state television in Iran.
The satellite was launched “from Russia’s Vostochny launch base”, some 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) east of Moscow, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iran’s telecommunications minister Issa Zareppur said “Pars-I” was “fully domestically developed” in Iran, which he said carried out a dozen satellite launches over the past two years.
In January, Iran said it simultaneously launched three satellites into orbit, nearly a week after the launch of a research satellite by its Revolutionary Guards.
Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.
Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defence purposes only.
In August 2022, Russia launched Iran’s remote-sensing Khayyam satellite into orbit from Kazakhstan amid controversy that Moscow might use it to boost its surveillance of military targets in its war in Ukraine.
Moscow has sought to strengthen its alliances with other countries ostracised by the West, including Iran, which has been accused of supplying Moscow with armed drones for its offensive in Ukraine.
This month, the United States said it would soon impose new sanctions on Iran over its backing for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has cautioned, “If you harm an American, we will respond,” as US forces attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked fighter groups and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. forces.
We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.
But to all those who seek to do us harm: We will respond.
The US president said the strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan earlier in the week, adding: “Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” reports The Guardian.
The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time in what was described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups.
“US military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States,” Centcom said in a statement. The raids were aimed at facilities believed to be controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said the strikes lasted about 30 minutes. “These responses began tonight. They’re not going to end tonight. So there will be additional responses. There will be additional action that we will take, all designed to put an end to these attacks and to take away capability by the IRGC.”
The 85 targets were grouped in seven different locations: four in Syria and three in Iraq, according to US officials. Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director for operations on the joint staff, said the timing of the strikes was determined by the weather.
CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria
At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces… pic.twitter.com/HeLMFDx9zY
“The initial indications are that we hit exactly what we meant to hit with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations,” Sims said, although this could not be verified.
On Thursday, the US said it blamed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-linked militias, for the deadly drone attack last weekend on the remote Tower 22 logistics base in Jordan, near the border with Syria and Iraq. Three US army reservists were killed after living quarters were struck at night and more than 80 wounded.
Iran executed four men at dawn on Monday after they were convicted of collaborating with the country’s arch-foe Israel on a plan to sabotage an Iranian defense site, according to the judiciary.
The four defendants, identified as Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Wafa Azarbar, Pejman Fatehi, were arrested in July 2022 and accused of plotting to carry out out an operation against a Ministry of Defense centre in the central province of Isfahan, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.
“The death sentence of four members of a group affiliated with the Zionist spy organisation, who were arrested… for plotting a bombing operation in Isfahan, was carried out this morning,” Mizan Online reported.
According to Iran, the men had been recruited by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, “about a year and a half before the operation”.
They were sent to African countries for “training courses in the military centres” where Mossad officers were present, the judiciary added.
The men were sentenced to death in September 2023.
In August 2023, Iran claimed to have foiled a “very complex” Mossad-initiated project to “sabotage” its ballistic missile industry. A few months earlier, in February, Teheran accused Israel of being responsible for a drone attack on a military site in Isfahan.
The two countries have been engaged in a shadow war for decades, with Iran regularly accusing Israel and its ally the United States of inciting unrest.
Tehran, Iran: Iran on Sunday said it simultaneously launched three satellites into orbit, nearly a week after the launch of a research satellite by the Revolutionary Guards drew Western criticism.
“Three Iranian satellites have been successfully launched into orbit for the first time,” state TV reported.
The satellites were carried by the two-stage Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier and were launched into a minimum orbit of 450 kilometres (280 miles), it added.
The Mahda satellite, which weighs around 32 kilogrammes and was developed by Iran’s Space Agency, is designed to test advanced satellite subsystems, the official IRNA news agency said.
The other two, Kayhan 2 and Hatef, weigh under 10 kilogrammes each and are aimed to test space-based positioning technology and narrowband communication, IRNA added.
Last week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent the research satellite Soraya into space.
Britain, France, and Germany condemned that launch in a statement rejected by Iran as “interventionist”.
Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.
Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defence purposes only.
The Islamic republic has struggled with several satellite launch failures in the past.
The successful launch of its first military satellite into orbit, Nour-1, in April 2020 drew a sharp rebuke from the United States.
Tehran has been under crippling US sanctions since Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal which granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities designed to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead.
Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons capability, insisting that its activities are entirely peaceful.
Following Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar, Pakistan and Iran have mutually agreed that ambassadors of both countries will return to their respective posts by January 26, 2024 and the Iranian Foreign Minister is going to visit on January 29, 2024.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the Foreign Office said that at the invitation of Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian will undertake a visit to Pakistan on January 29.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Mudassir Tipu said he was “so delighted that leaderships of both Pakistan and Iran so deftly handled a challenging moment astutely- swiftly putting relations back on track”.
I am so delighted that leaderships of both and so deftly handled a challenging moment astutely- swiftly putting relations back on track. We have great potential ahead & both brotherly countries must collectively promote peace & development in region .
Along with that the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday that Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian would visit Pakistan on January 29.
The visit comes days after tensions escalated between the two countries following an Iranian air strike in Pakistan, leading Islamabad to strike terrorist hideouts in the neighbouring country’s Sistan-Baluchestan province.
“Following the telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has been mutually agreed that ambassadors of both countries may return to their respective posts by January 26, 2024,” the FO said in a statement.
The FO said that the Iranian foreign minister would travel to Pakistan on Jan 29 at the invitation of FM Jilani.
: PR NO. 2️⃣3️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣
Joint Press Statement of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran
Previously, Pakistan has targeted terrorist hideouts inside Iran in response to the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that killed two children and injured three girls.
Hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front were successfully struck in an intelligence based operation, code name ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’, ISPR has stated in a recently released statement.
According to a statement by the Foreign Office (FO), a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’. Meanwhile, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that nine people, including seven “non-Iranian nationals”, were killed in the strike targeting a village near the city of Saravan.
The Khorasan Diary reported, that “7 BLF millitants involved in attacks in Pakistan have been killed/injured in Pakistan’s strikes in Iran.”
7 BLF MILITANTS INVOLVED IN ATTACKS IN PAKISTAN HAVE BEEN KILLED/INJURED IN PAKISTANS STRIKES IN IRAN.
A top Pakistani security official told The Khorasan Diary that 7 militants wanted to Pakistan have been killed or injured in the strike in Shamesar, Iran.
In a video posted, it can be seen the damage caused by Pakistani Strikes in approximately 200 kilometres away from PAK-Iran border.
TKD MONITORING: A video uploaded by news outlets of Saravan city at dawn shows at least one site hit by Pakistan early this morning. Multiple bodies are under the debris it states. Saravan city in Sistan wa Balochistan province of Iran is approximately 200 kilometres from… pic.twitter.com/LrLr58iMBO
Publication The Khorasan Diary also claimed that Jaishul Adal, the same militant group, Iran claimed to have targeted has taken the responsibility for the attack on Saravan Corps of Sistan Wa Baluchistan province, Colonel Hossein Ali Javadanfar, adding that the security official was assassinated along with two of his guards.”
ALERT: The deputy commander of the Saravan Corps of Sistan Wa Baluchistan province, Colonel Hossein Ali Javadanfar, was shot dead when he was returning from an administrative mission on the Khash-Zahedan road, Iran. Iranian state media reported. Jaishul Adal, a militant group… pic.twitter.com/LiizDcCVFT
Previously, The Iranian strikes were part of a series of attacks carried out by the country in recent days in Syria and Iraq as a response to recent terrorist attacks on its territory. They have heightened concerns about regional stability, particularly amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the Intelligence-based operation – codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’, says the official statement released by the Foreign Office of Pakistan.
“Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran is a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Wednesday.
A context to the response by the Foreign Office
Foreign Ofiice of Pakistan provided a detailed context to Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar.
“Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists. However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so called Sarmachars,” the statement read.
The Foreign Office described the action as a part of its resolve to “defend its national security against all threats.” Moreover it mainatianed that “Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised.”
Strict monitoring of Air Space
Geo News’ Azaz Syed quotes Civil Aviation Authority that amid the escalation of tensions in Islamabad-Tehran ties, Pakistan has started strict monitoring of all flights from the West including Iran.
Meeting of Foreign Minister with Iranian Counterpart
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani Wednesday told his Irani counterpart that no country should follow its path of launching an attack on a neighbouring nation’s soil against the menace of terrorism unilaterally.
“No country in the region should tread this perilous path,” Jilani told Iran’s FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a telephone call hours after Tehran claimed it had targeted “terrorists” in Pakistan.
Iranian response
There is a group called Jaishal Adal, which is an Iranian terrorist group that have taken refuge on Pakistan-Iran border. Several times we have talked to Pakistani security officials that this group killed our security personnel and we responded by killing Iranian terrorist on Pakistani soil. I have spoken to my Pakistani counterpart, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, we do respect the sovereignty of Pakistan but we don’t allow our national security be compromised and be played with. We have no hesitations when it comes to our national interest and those terrorist groups inside Pakistan and those affiliated with Israel” the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said while speaking in Davos at The World Economic Forum.
WE RESPECT PAKISTANS SOVEREIGNTY BUT WILL NOT COMPROMISE ON OUR NATIONAL SECURITY SAYS IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
There is a group called Jaishal Adal, which is an Iranian terrorist group that have taken refuse on Pakistan-Iran border. Several times we have talked to Pakistani… pic.twitter.com/NHLrTyCwqn
India India in a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said, “This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence.”
China, close partners of Iran and Pakistan, urged restraint, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying both should “avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension”.
United States of America
The United States, meanwhile, condemned the Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saying Tehran had violated the “sovereign borders of three of its neighbours in just the past couple of days”.
Pakistan confirmed on Wednesday that Iran carried out an air strike on its territory that killed two children and injured three girls after Tehran launched attacks in Iraq and Syria against what it called “anti-Iranian terrorist groups”.
As of yet, Pakistan has expelled Iranian ambassador from Pakistan, and has suspended all high level visits in response.
Pakistan expels Iranian ambassador and recalls its own from Tehran plus suspends all high level visits to and from Iran. This was the only way to respond to Iranian aggression. Iran must know it cannot cross the red line with Pakistan. By not responding to Iran’s violation in…
Iran offered no immediate official comment but its state-run Nour News agency said the attack destroyed the Pakistan headquarters of the jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).
However, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency that, “Two key strongholds of the Jaysh al-Dhulm (Jaish al-Adl) terrorist group in Pakistan” were “specifically targeted and successfully demolished by a combination of missile and drone attacks”, cites Dawn.
Tasnim reported that the “focal point of this operation was the region known as Kouh-Sabz (green mountain)” in Balochistan.
Local authorities said they had also received information about such an attack but had no further details at the time of going to print. Reports from the area suggested that a missile hit a mosque, partially damaging it and injuring some people.
In its statement, the foreign office described the incident as an “illegal act”.
: PR NO. 1️⃣5️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣
Pakistan’s Strong Condemnation of the Unprovoked Violation of its Air Space
Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.
The strike came after Iran launched missile attacks on “spy headquarters” and “terrorist” targets in Syria, and in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
The Iranian strikes add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and pro-Palestinian Huthi rebels in Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
