Pakistan and Iran have both conducted strikes on each other\u2019s territories in an unprecedented escalation of hostilities between the neighbors, at a time when tensions have risen sharply across the Middle East and beyond. <\/p>\n
The two countries share a volatile border, stretching about 900 kilometers (560 miles), with Pakistan\u2019s Balochistan province on one side and Iran\u2019s Sistan and Baluchestan\u00a0province on the other. <\/p>\n
Both nations have long fought militants in the restive Baloch region along the border. But while the two countries share a common separatist enemy, it is highly unusual for either side to attack militants on each other\u2019s soil. <\/p>\n
The latest strikes come as Iran\u2019s allies and proxies in the Middle East \u2013 the so-called axis of resistance \u2013 launch attacks on Israeli forces and its allies against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know. <\/p>\n
The opening salvo in this fast-moving sequence of events began Tuesday when Iran conducted strikes on Pakistan\u2019s Balochistan province \u2013 killing two children and wounding several others, according to Pakistani authorities. <\/p>\n
Iran claimed it had \u201conly targeted Iranian terrorists on the soil of Pakistan\u201d and that no Pakistani nationals were targeted. <\/p>\n
But the attack sparked anger in Pakistan, which called the strike \u201can egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and\u00a0Iran.\u201d <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s state-aligned\u00a0Tasnim\u00a0news agency said it had been targeting strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, known in Iran as Jaish al-Dhulm, or Army of Justice. <\/p>\n
The separatist militant group operates on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border and has previously claimed responsibility for attacks against Iranian targets. Its ultimate goal is independence for Iran\u2019s Sistan and Baluchestan\u00a0province. <\/p>\n
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is majority Sunni \u2013 the dominant branch of Islam \u2013 while Iran and its \u201caxis of resistance\u201d is largely Shia. <\/p>\n
Pakistan struck back two days later with what it called a \u201cseries of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes\u201d on several alleged separatist hideouts in Sistan and Baluchestan. <\/p>\n
In announcing the strikes on Thursday, Pakistan\u2019s foreign ministry said a number of militants were killed. Iranian authorities said at least seven people were killed in a series of explosions \u2013 three women and four children. <\/p>\n
Pakistan said it had for years complained that separatist fighters had \u201csafe havens and sanctuaries\u201d in Iran \u2013 and was forced to take matters into its own hands with Thursday\u2019s strikes. <\/p>\n
Pakistan and Iran\u2019s struggle against separatists operating on either side of each other\u2019s borders is not new. <\/p>\n
Deadly clashes along the turbulent border have happened regularly over the years. Just last month, Iran accused Jaish al-Adl militants of storming a police station in\u00a0Sistan and Baluchestan,\u00a0which resulted in the deaths of 11 Iranian police officers, according to Tasnim. <\/p>\n
What is highly unusual, however, is each side\u2019s willingness to hit targets across those borders, without informing each other first. And all this is happening against the backdrop of Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza, which has sent repercussions coursing through the region. <\/p>\n
The larger regional conflict may have emboldened Iran to be more proactive in pursuing targets beyond its borders, experts say \u2013 especially as the United States walks a tightrope between de-escalating hostilities and flexing its own military might to deter further moves by Iran. <\/p>\n
The day before the strikes in Pakistan, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Iraq and Syria, claiming to be targeting a spy base for Israeli forces and \u201canti-Iran terror groups.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile,\u00a0heavy fighting continues between Israel and the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah across the Lebanon border; and the US is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have attacked ships in the Red Sea in the name of revenge for Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t censure Iran and its proxies \u2026 then there\u2019s no cost for them to continue to pursue those activities,\u201d said Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. <\/p>\n
He added that Iran\u2019s dominant position in the Middle East, in contrast to conflict-ridden nations like Yemen and Syria, means it stands to gain from regional instability and \u201cfilling power vacuums.\u201d And Iran\u2019s activities now serve to further several of its main goals, which include empowering Palestinians and counteracting American influence in the Middle East, he said. <\/p>\n
Retired US Army Gen.\u00a0Wesley Clark, a former NATO supreme allied commander, said the various hostilities reflect Iran \u201cstriving to cement its role as a leader in the region.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Baloch people, also spelled Baluch, live where Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran meet. They have long exhibited a fiercely independent streak and always resented being ruled by both Islamabad and Tehran, with insurgencies bubbling across the porous border region for decades. <\/p>\n
The area they live in is also rich in natural resources, but Baloch separatists complain that their people, some of the region\u2019s poorest, have seen little wealth trickle down to their communities. <\/p>\n
Balochistan, Pakistan\u2019s largest province by area, has witnessed a spate of deadly attacks in recent years, fueled by a decades-long insurgency by separatists who demand independence from the country, angered by what they say is the state\u2019s monopoly and exploitation of the region\u2019s mineral resources. <\/p>\n
Iran has also faced a long history of insurgencies from its Kurdish, Arab and Baloch minorities. <\/p>\n
Jaish al-Adl is just one of many separatist groups operating within Iran. It was originally part of a larger Sunni militant group called Jundallah, which fractured after its leader was executed by Iran in 2010, according to the US government\u2019s National Counterterrorism Center.\u00a0Jaish al-Adl emerged instead and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department. <\/p>\n
The group often targets Iranian security personnel, government officials, and Shia civilians, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. <\/p>\n
In 2015, the group claimed responsibility for an attack that killed eight Iranian border guards, with militants reportedly crossing into Iran from Pakistan. And in 2019, it claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that hit a bus carrying members of the Iranian military, killing at least 23 in Sistan-Baluchestan. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, a day after Iran\u2019s strikes on Pakistan, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for an attack on an Iranian military vehicle in Sistan and Baluchestan. <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s strikes on Tuesday sparked a diplomatic spat, with Pakistan recalling its ambassador from Iran and suspending all high-level visits from its neighbor. And after Pakistan\u2019s strikes, Iran on Thursday demanded \u201can immediate explanation\u201d from its neighbor, Tasmin reported. <\/p>\n
Nearby nations have weighed in, with India saying it has \u201czero tolerance towards terrorism,\u201d and that the attack was \u201ca matter between Iran and Pakistan.\u201d China has urged both nations to exercise restraint and avoid escalating tensions further. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Washington was working to prevent the Middle East from erupting into full-scale conflict. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple days,\u201d he said, referring to Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. When asked about the potential for Pakistan \u2013 a longstanding US ally \u2013 to retaliate against Iran, Miller said, \u201cWe hope that that\u2019s an issue that can be peacefully resolved.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s subsequent strike on Iranian soil shows it has decided to respond with more than just diplomatic repercussions. <\/p>\n
However, it is not clear whether either Iran or Pakistan would want to descend into full-blown hostilities over separatist groups that they both regard as an enemy. <\/p>\n
Both sides issued statements after their respective strikes that hinted at a desire not to see things escalate. <\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s foreign ministry called Iran a \u201cbrotherly country\u201d and emphasized the need to \u201cfind joint solutions.\u201d <\/p>\n
That\u00a0echoed the Iranian foreign minister, who called Pakistan a \u201cfriendly country\u201d earlier this week and said their strikes were proportionate and only aimed at militants. <\/p>\n\n
Pakistan and Iran have both conducted strikes on each other\u2019s territories in an unprecedented escalation of hostilities between the neighbors, at a time when tensions have risen sharply across the Middle East and beyond. The two countries share a volatile border, stretching about 900 kilometers (560 miles), with Pakistan\u2019s Balochistan province on one side and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}