Islamabad: An Iranian delegation is
expected to visit Pakistan soon to discuss the suicide attack
in Sistan-Baluchistan that Tehran has blamed on Pakistan-based
elements of the Jundullah terror group, Foreign Minister Shah
Mahood Qureshi said on Tuesday.
"An Iranian team is coming to Pakistan to discuss the
issue...Pakistan has already condemned the incident and
assured Iran of full cooperation," Qureshi told reporters in
his hometown of Multan in Punjab province.
Sunday’s suicide attack – which killed 42 people,
including senior officers of the Revolutionary Guard Corps –
has implications for relations between Pakistan and Iran,
Qureshi said. "We have to ensure that the Pakistan-Iran border
area remains stable and peaceful," he said.
Iran has asked Pakistan to take steps to bring to
justice Jundullah elements based in the country that were
linked to the attack.
However, Pakistan has denied the charge that its
territory is being used to launch terror attacks and said
Jundullah chief Abdolmalek Rigi is not present in the country.
Despite the denial, Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki today said members of the group accused of
carrying out the attack regularly crossed the frontier between
Pakistan and Iran.
"They cross into Iran illegally. They are based in
Pakistan," Mottaki said.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Heyder Moslehi too
demanded Pakistan should "clarify" its position regarding
Jundallah.
"According to the evidence, the Pakistan intelligence
service is linked to the Rigi group and Pakistan has to
clarify its position regarding the group," Moslehi was quoted
as saying by state-run IRNA news agency.
Meanwhile, Pakistani law enforcement agencies on Tuesday
beefed up security around the Iranian consulate in the
southwestern city of Quetta.
Officials in Balochistan’s home department said the
provincial government had decided to tighten security around
the consulate in the wake of Sunday’s suicide attack in Iran.
Bureau Report