Pakistan has vowed to strike back at Iran after the Islamic republic launched airstrikes on a militant separatist group in Baluchistan.
And Tory MP Tobias Ellwood MP, the former chairman of Parliament’s powerful defence committee, has warned the attack increases the risk of a dangerous “escalation” involving one of the world’s eight nuclear powers.
Yesterday’s strike on Pakistan’s south-western region have damaged diplomatic relations between the two neighbours, which have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it issued a strong protest with Iran’s Foreign Ministry, and summoned an Iranian diplomat in Islamabad “to convey our strongest condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”.
Ominously, it added: “The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran. The dangerous precedent set by Iran is destabilising and has reciprocal implications.”
Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for the Baluchistan province, also condemned the attack, saying: “Pakistan has always sought cooperation from all the countries of region – including Iran – to combat terrorism.
“This is unacceptable and Pakistan has a right to respond to any aggression committed against its sovereignty.”
Mr Ellwood told Express.co.uk: “This attack looks like Iran demonstrating confidence in settling old domestic scores with this separatist Sunni movement that operates in SW Iran but also across the porous border with Pakistan.
“Pakistan is not a country to take such an attack lightly so we should expect repercussions.”
He stressed: “This adds yet another complex escalation to tensions across the Middle East.
“The prospect of escalation through miscalculation has just jumped a couple of notches.”
Iran also launched strikes on Monday in Iraq and Syria over an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing which killed more 90 people earlier this month.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, announced that Islamabad was recalling the country’s ambassador to Iran over the strikes.
Speaking on television, she said: “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.”
Ms Baloch added that Pakistan asked the Iranian ambassador, who was visiting Tehran when the attack took place, not to return. Iran did not immediately acknowledge Pakistan’s decision.
Iranian state media reports, which were later withdrawn without explanation, said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard targeted bases belonging to the militant group Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice”.
The group, which seeks an independent Baluchistan and has spread across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, acknowledged the assault in a statement shared online.
Pakistani defence analyst Syed Muhammad Ali said the government would weigh any potential retaliation carefully.
A military response is unlikely as the country’s air defence and missile systems are primarily deployed along the eastern border to respond to potential threats from India.
Cash-strapped Pakistan also cannot afford a war with Iran but it might consider taking some measures to respond to such strikes from its western border with Afghanistan and Iran, Ali said.
He said Pakistan reserved the right to respond at a time and place of the country’s choosing and such a strike would be measured and in line with public expectations.
