The governor of Iran's Sisten-Baluchestan province, Habibollah Dahmardeh, has denied that Iran has closed border with Pakistan. "Situation is normal and we have no intention to close the border," says the Tehran Times quoting the governor. However, the Fars news agency reports that the border is closed and the government of Pakistan has been informed accordingly.
The Pakistani media too have reported that border was completely closed on Saturday after its "partial" closure on Thursday in the wake of a suicide attack on a Zahedan mosque. Although, there is confusion about the border situation, the fact that Islamabad's ambassador to Iran, M.B. Abbasi, was summoned by the Iranian government following the mosque attack and asked to extradite Abdul Malik Rigi, chief of Jundullah (Allah's soldiers), which Iran says is part of al Qaeda network and backed by US, to Iran is clear and unambiguous.
Pakistan government is already looking for him, says Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Abdul Malik Rigi's brother was handed over to Iran last year to be followed by the extradition of some half a dozen Jundullah activists last month.
But none of them was among the three publicly executed in Iran's south-eastern city on Friday on charges of equipping the suicide-bomber with explosives. In fact, the three were in the Iranian custody at the time of the attack on the Zahedan mosque for an attack in 2007 on Iran's Revolutionary Guards in which 11 guards were killed.
Interestingly, before Tehran's focus shifted towards Pakistan the Iranian leadership had accused the United States of undermining President Ahmedinejad's election campaign - as part of ex-president Bush's confessed campaign for regime change in Iran. Bush's Washington was condemned by the Iranian government of bankrolling the Jundullah-led separatist movement in south-eastern Iran.
However, given President Obama's promise to 'negotiate' with Tehran the US may give up its hard-line policies - we would know on Thursday when he would speak in Cairo outlining his vision of US vis-à-vis the Muslim World. But then there are also the reports that the said group has strong sectarian affiliation with Sunni hard-liners including Taliban and al Qaeda.
Even the disappearance of a senior Iranian diplomat from Peshawar last year was suspected to be the handiwork of the Jundullah. Yet another factor that adds to the lingering restiveness of Pak-Iran border region is its location as main conduit for drug trafficking.
Isn't it intriguing that the Zahedan mosque attack has come soon after the governments of Pakistan and Iran met at the presidential level last month and decided to go ahead with the pipeline project albeit the fact that some of the relevant issues are still unresolved?
It was a major breakthrough which must have disappointed some quarters opposed to this project. Given instability that abounds in the area the pipeline is expected to pass through, Pakistan and Iran are urgently required to undertake a joint security approach to cleanse it of gangs that tend to flourish in lawless badlands.
Joint patrolling of the common border as already agreed to by the two governments may help but that is not enough. Importantly, it is the people of the areas on both sides of the border that have to be brought into the loop. Unless they are gainfully employed in lawful economic activities they would remain a staple available to be hired by all kinds of gangs and groups.
We may not accept the thesis that somewhere some people are planning to create a 'Greater Balochistan' or defence journals in some world capitals are trying to redraw the geographic and demographic features of this region. But we cannot escape the reality of emerging global perspectives that portend clashing interests over its strategic location as the future entrepot for the Central Asia's fossil fuels.
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