Pakistan recalls envoy from Iran after ‘unprovoked’ missile strikes

ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) - Pakistan recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Iran yesterday to protest at a “blatant breach” of its sovereignty after Tehran said it launched missile attacks on militant bases in southwestern Pakistan.

Iran’s foreign minister said it hit militants in “missile and drone” strikes. State media said Iranian missiles struck two bases of the Sunni Muslim group Jaish alAdl, designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the U.S. State Department.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan said a violation of its airspace resulted in the deaths of two children but has not confirmed the nature of the violation, or the location of the strikes.

Only militants were hit, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, alleging those attacked were linked to Israel.

Pakistan and Iran have in the past had rocky relations, but the strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusion in recent years.

The strikes were launched a day after similar attacks carried out by Tehran inside other neighbours, Iraq and Syria. Baghdad recalled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran’s state-backed media said it had hit an Israeli espionage centre.

Provincial officials in Pakistan said two children were killed and several others injured in strikes near the Iran border.

The violation was unprovoked and unacceptable, said Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. Pakistan reserved “the right to respond to this illegal act”, a message it had conveyed to the Iranian government, she said.