Iran consulate official killed in Peshawar

Unknown gunmen have shot dead a local official at Iran’s consulate in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar.

Abul Hassan Jafari, director of public relations at the consulate, was attacked by assailants on Thursday as he was on his way to work, police said.

He died of severe injuries on the way to hospital.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mashallah Shakeri has confirmed the incident.

Iran’s consul general Abbas-Ali Abdollahi condemned the attack, saying it was a ‘plot by the enemies of Iran and Pakistan’ aimed at straining the relations between the two countries

According to the consul general, the official was killed by two motorcycle riders, who escaped after the shooting.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also condemned the ‘heinous crime’ and said the culprits would be brought to justice.

The chief minister of North West Frontier Province, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, has ordered an investigation into the assassination.

This is not the first time that an official at Iran’s consulate in Peshawar comes under attack.

Last year, Iran’s commercial attache, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh-Niyaki, was kidnapped on his way to the consulate.

Iran has urged Pakistan to tighten security measures in the violence-stricken region in which hundreds have been killed as a result of terrorist attacks and bombings.