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NATION JANUARY 26, 2024 | The Indian Eye 6
Did the US give a greenlight
to Pakistan for its retaliatory
strike inside Iran?
New Delhi reacts to Iranian action by saying India has a complete zero tolerance for terrorism
and understands the actions that countries take in their self-defence
OUR BUREAU
New Delhi/Washington, DC
n a military move that can change the entire dy-
namics in the West Asian region, Iran attacked
Ithe headquarters of a terrorist group opposed
to Tehran with drones and missiles inside Pakistan
territory on late hours of Tuesday. Pakistan’s Min-
istry of Foreign Affairs said that the violation of
Pakistan’s sovereignty is “completely unacceptable”
and warned of serious consequences. It further said
that Iran has taken this action despite the existence
of several channels of communication between the
two nations.
Now, Islamabad and Tehran have sought to
de-escalate tensions after Pakistan launched retal-
iatory strikes inside Iran on Thursday, threatening
a full-scale conflict between the two neighbors, as
per officials and diplomatic sources, as reported by
The Express Tribune.
Pakistan after conducting the missile strikes
sent a reconciliation message to Iran and told the
neighboring country that it had no interest in fur-
ther escalating the tensions. As per The Express
Tribune, a Pakistan-based newspaper, with three Iran’s revolutionary guards launched a missile and drone strike on terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan on Tuesday (ANI)
key regional players working behind the scenes,
Tehran indicated that it was ready to lower the ten-
sions too. an uncompromising position of zero tolerance to- we have spoken a number of times, we’ve focused
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday wards terrorism. We understand actions that coun- on. We’ve been incredibly concerned about the po-
evening issued a statement stating that Tehran tries take in their self-defense.” tential for escalation since October 7.”
“adheres to its policy of good neighborly ties with But, the US on Thursday evaded a question “That’s why we have engaged in intense diplo-
Pakistan”. One Pakistani official said: “We hope on whether Pakistan held prior consultations matic efforts to try to prevent escalation. We not-
the worst is over.” with Washington before conducting retaliatory air ed the comments from the government of Pakistan,
Iran’s strikes in Pakistan came after Iran’s strikes on Iran. On media reports claiming Paki- about the importance of cooperative relations
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stan consulted the US before conducting strikes between Pakistan and its neighbors. We thought
launched missiles into Iraq’s Kurdistan region at in Iran, State Department Spokesperson Matthew those were productive useful statements, and cer-
what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” and Miller, during a regular press briefing in Washing- tainly, there’s no need for escalation and we would
at alleged ISIS-linked targets in Syria, Al Arabiya ton, said, “I do not have any private conversations urge restraint on all sides in this case,” he added.
News reported. to read out.” Matthew Miller called Iran a major funder
In response, Pakistan on Thursday launched Miller said the US is concerned about the es- of Hezbollah and a principal supporter of Hamas
missile strikes into Iran and codenamed it Opera- calating tensions in the region and has urged re- for years. In another query about the ongoing
tion ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’. straint on all sides. He said there is no need for tensions between Iran and Pakistan after strikes
In the meanwhile, in a major gesture, Ministry escalation in the matter and that the country has and counterstrikes, Miller said, “I think I made
of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir noted the Pakistani government’s comments about pretty clear yesterday what we think about Iran’s
Jaiswal said in an official statement over the Irani- the importance of “cooperative relations between attacks, not just the strikes that were launched in
an airstrikes in Pakistan that India has a complete Pakistan and its neighbors. the past three days against three of its neighbors
zero tolerance for terrorism and understands the In response to a question on how the US ad- but its long history of funding terrorism, funding
actions that countries take in their self-defence, ministration reads the situation between Iran and instability and sowing discord in the Middle East.
He said, “This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan, Miller said, “We are concerned about es- That’s something we have seen contribute to con-
Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have calating tensions in the region. It’s been something flict in Gaza.”
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