Pakistan, Iran “Agreed to De-Escalate” after Air Strikes, Islamabad Says

Pakistan and neighboring Iran "agreed to de-escalate" tensions, Islamabad said on January 19, after trading deadly airstrikes on militant targets on each other's territory.

This week’s tit-for-tat military actions in the border region of Baluchistan, shared between the two countries, has further stoked regional tensions already inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.

"The two foreign ministers agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened," said a summary of a phone call between the Pakistani and Iranian top diplomats, issued by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani told his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, that Pakistan is ready to “work with Iran on all issues based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation," the statement also said. 

"He underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues," it added.

Amir-Abdollahian, in comments quoted by Iran's state media, said that Pakistan's “sovereignty and territorial integrity are of great interest to us and bilateral cooperation is essential to neutralize and destroy terrorist camps on Pakistani soil."

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called "terrorist" targets in Pakistan late on January 16, with Pakistan in turn striking separatist militant targets inside Iran on January 18.

Tehran says the Pakistani strikes killed nine people in a border village on Iranian territory, including four children. Islamabad says the Iranian attack claimed the lives of two children.