Iran MP warns terrorists over abducted guards

An Iranian lawmaker says the terrorists who have abducted five Iranian border guards and transferred them to Pakistan will receive a crushing response if the abductees are harmed.

“If the lives of the Iranian border guards are endangered, the terrorist groups will receive a strong response,” said Mohammad Hassan Asafari, who sits on Iran’s Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, on Thursday.

He added, however, that, “In a letter to the Pakistani ambassador (Noor Mohammad Jadmani), the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has expressed readiness – if need be – to… review the diplomatic mechanisms with the Pakistani side to secure the release of the Iranian border guards.”

Asafari said the Pakistani government is responsible for the lives of the abducted Iranian guards and called on authorities to do their utmost and swiftly bring about the freedom of the Iranian guards.

“Terrorist groups have not renounced their savage acts that run counter to human rights yet; and the downfall and elimination of people like criminal [Abdolmalek] Rigi has not been an object lesson for them,” the Iranian MP said in reference to the executed ringleader of the Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group.

Last Sunday, the Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group, which has claimed responsibility for the February 6 abduction of the five Iranian border guards in Jakigour region in Iran’s Sistan-and-Baluchestan Province, claimed that it has killed one of the hostages.

On Wednesday, Iran summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran in connection with the alleged killing of one of the Iranian border guards held hostage in Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Iranian nation expects the Pakistani government to secure the release of the Iranian border guards.

On October 25, 2013, the Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group killed 14 Iranian border guards and wounded six others in the 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 commit to the terms of the agreement.