Iran MP urges tough stand against terrorists

A senior Iranian lawmaker says Islamabad is responsible for the lives of the abducted border guards who have been transferred to Pakistan, urging a serious offensive against terrorists.

“These terrorists should be confronted seriously so that they will not dare to carry out such moves inside the Iranian territory and even in the neighboring country (Pakistan),” spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said on Sunday.

Jaish-ul-Adl terrorists kidnapped five Iranian border guards in Jakigour region in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan on February 6 and took them to Pakistani territory. The terrorists claimed on March 23 that they had killed one of the hostages.

Naqavi Hosseini expressed regret that terrorist groups are trained and equipped in a neighboring country.

“Unfortunately, these terrorist groups are using the Pakistani territory, and the Islamabad government is unable to establish security along its borders and western provinces,” the Iranian legislator added.

Alongside all the diplomatic efforts between Iran and Pakistan, Naqavi Hosseini said, Iranian officials must “directly engage in” the issue of the border guards’ abduction.

“We have to show that we are powerful enough to give a strong response to any threats by terrorist groups.”

Iran has summoned Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tehran Noor Mohammad Jadmani in connection with the claim by the Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group that it has killed one of the Iranian hostages.

In another act of terror on October 25, 2013, Jaish-ul-Adl killed 14 Iranian border guards and wounded six others in a border region near the city of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

In February 2013, Iran and Pakistan signed a security agreement under which both countries are required to cooperate in preventing and combating organized crime, fighting terrorism and countering the activities that pose a threat to the national security of either country.

Iran has repeatedly called on Pakistan to abide by the terms of the agreement.