Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Iran reserves the right to give a crushing response to the recent terrorist crime against Iranian guards serving on the country's southeastern border.
"While we reserve the right to give a firm response to such acts of terror, we call on Pakistani officials to arrest and punish the perpetrators of this crime at the earliest," Dehqan said on Friday, Press TV reported.
He noted that Iran would follow up on the case through the Pakistani government.
On Wednesday, 10 Iranian border guards were killed and three others injured in clashes near the town of Mirjaveh in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan. The Pakistan-based Jaish ul-Adl terror group claimed the attack in a statement.
Police Chief Lieutenant General Hossein Ashtari also said on Friday that terrorist attacks against the country would not go unanswered.
"Enemies of the great Iranian nation must know that such terrorist and brutal measures will not remain unanswered," Ashtari said.
He emphasized that such desperate moves would never be able to affect the faithful Iranian nation and the country's border guards will continue their efforts to protect the Islamic Republic and never allow ill-wishers to infiltrate into the country.
Thousands of Iranians held a funeral ceremony for the border guards who lost their lives in the terrorist attack near the border with Pakistan. The funeral took place in the northeastern city of Mashhad where mourners condemned the terrorist act and called for a fitting response to the perpetrators.
President Hassan Rouhani on Friday wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice.
"Pakistan's safety, growth and prosperity have always topped Iran's agenda of ties with the friendly and neighboring country … Iran's soil has never been misused against any of its neighbors, including Pakistan," Rouhani said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's Ambassador to Iran Asif Durrani to convey Tehran's strong protest over the recent massacre of the Iranian border guards by Pakistan-based terrorists.
