Pakistan, Iran agree on return of envoys by Jan 26 after tit-for-tat strikes

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 23 (ANI): After firing missiles and conducting drone attacks at each other’s territory, Pakistan and Iran have mutually agreed on the return of ambassadors of both countries to their respective posts by January 26, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

It reported quoting the joint statement issued on Monday that the Pakistan foreign office said that at the invitation of Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian will undertake a visit to Pakistan on January 29.

In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Mudassir Tipu said he was “so delighted that leaderships of both Pakistan and Iran so deftly handled a challenging moment astutely- swiftly putting relations back on track”.

“We have great potential ahead & both brotherly countries must collectively promote peace & development in region,” he added.

Pakistan on January 17 withdrew its ambassador from Iran and announced that it would not allow the Iranian envoy visiting his home country at that time to return to protest at a “blatant breach” of its sovereignty after Tehran said it launched missile attacks on militant bases in southwestern Pakistan, Geo News reported.

The next day, on January 18, Pakistan launched strikes inside Iran in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran violated the country’s sovereignty by launching a strike in Balochistan.

In a statement, the Pakistan Army said it targeted the hideouts used by ‘terrorist militant organizations,’ namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), were successfully struck in an intelligence-based operation code-named “Marg Bar Sarmachar”.

As per the Geo News report, the tit-for-tat strikes were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm over wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7.