Pakistan recalls its envoy, suspends all Iran contacts after air strike

Pakistan has recalled its ambassador to Tehran, a day after Iran launched air strikes on Pakistan that it claimed targeted bases for militants.

The Iranian envoy, who is visiting Iran, will not be allowed to come back, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said on Wednesday.

"This violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Officials in Pakistan's Balochistan province said two children were killed and several others injured in strikes near the Iran border.

Iran's Mehr News Agency said the "missile and drone" attack targeted the Jaish al Adl group's headquarters in Pakistan, calling it "another decisive step taken by Iran in response to the aggression against the security of our country".

Tuesday's strike imperilled diplomatic relations between the two neighbours, but both sides appeared wary of provoking the other.

Iran and Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks.

The attack also threatened to further ignite violence in a Middle East unsettled by Israel's war in Gaza.

Pakistan denounced the strike, near the nations' shared border.

"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," ministry's spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Wednesday.

Formed in 2012, Jaish al Adl is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.

'No limits to security'

The Iranian strikes add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel's war on Gaza and pro-Palestinian Houthis in Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

On Wednesday Iran's Defense minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said Tehran would set "no limits" to its security.

Mohammad Hosseini, deputy president for parliamentary affairs, said Pakistan had been warned "that they must prevent the entry into Iran of people who kill large numbers of people, it was natural to have the reaction of the Islamic republic".

China, close partners of Iran and Pakistan, urged restraint, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying both should "avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension".

Pakistan's official statement did not specify where the strike took place, but Pakistani media said it was near Panjgur in southwest Balochistan province, where the countries share a sparsely populated border of nearly 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).

Hours before the strike, Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar had met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

'Common threat'

Jaish al Adl claimed responsibility for an attack in December on a police station in Rask that killed at least 11 Iranian police officers.

The United States has also labelled Jaish al Adl a terrorist organisation, saying the group "primarily targets Iranian security personnel" but also government officials and civilians with assassinations, kidnappings, and suicide bombings.

Tehran and Islamabad frequently accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other's territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage.

"It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said.

"Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action."

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, warned of the seriousness of the strike.

"Iran has staged cross-border operations against Pakistan-based militants in the past, but I don't recall anything on this scale," he said on X.

"This plunges Pakistan-Iran ties –– a delicate relationship even in the best of times –– into serious crisis."

'Act of aggression'

Iraq recalled its ambassador from Iran on Tuesday after deadly missile strikes by its ally on its autonomous Kurdish region.

Four people were killed and six others wounded in the attack, according to the security council of the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.

Iraq challenged Iran's claim that the strikes targeted Israel's intelligence services in response to recent Israeli assassinations of Iranian and pro-Iranian commanders.

It said it would lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council over the Iranian "attack on its sovereignty".

Iran defended its missile strikes in Iraq and Syria, saying they were a "targeted operation" and "just punishment" against those who breach the country's security.

Iran supports Palestinian resistance group Hamas and hailed its deadly October 7 attacks on Israel as a "success" while denying any direct involvement.

Regional tensions have spiked since, drawing in Iran-allied armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.