The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has called on Pakistan to fulfill its commitments on border security and prevent terrorists from crossing the joint border into Iranian territory.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, "Iran is not seeking to intervene in the affairs of other countries; however, when we feel our neighbors are incapable of fulfilling their commitments or there is no resolve on their part (to secure the frontiers) we would have no choice but to confront our enemies."
"Terrorists should know that we are closely monitoring their activities and if they continue their vicious acts, we will confront them without any constraint wherever they are," He told reporters on Saturday, ISNA quoted him as saying.
Iranian officials have criticized neighboring Pakistan for not taking adequate action to prevent terrorist groups from using its soil as an operation base against Iran. Salami's remarks came a week after a number of Iranian police personnel were killed in separate attacks in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan which borders Pakistan.
The province has seen a spate of terrorist attacks in recent years with gunmen crossing the porous border with Pakistan. Last year, Tehran and Islamabad signed a security agreement under which both countries are required to cooperate in preventing and combating organized crime, fighting terrorism, and countering the activities that pose a threat to national security of either country.
Islamabad's Response
In response to Iranian officials' comments, Pakistan's Foreign Office has claimed Iran is seeking to "externalize" its problems. “It is not helpful to externalize problems. We need to focus on eliminating terrorism from our countries,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said at a weekly media briefing on Saturday. The official asked Tehran to use the border management committee of the two countries for investigating the incidents.
"We have mechanisms which can investigate such events as was done in the past when the Iranian guards were kidnapped and released inside Iran,” the Pakistani English-language Dawn newspaper quoted her as saying.
