COAS says Pakistan, Iran will not allow 'spoilers to drive wedge' between brotherly nations

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir stated on Monday that Iran and Pakistan will not permit “spoilers to drive a wedge between brotherly nations.”

In a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, COAS mentioned that terrorism was a shared threat that required cooperation, improved coordination, and intelligence sharing to combat.

Earlier in the day, Abdollahian said he was in Pakistan to tell “in a loud voice to all terrorists that Iran and Pakistan will not provide them any opportunity to endanger our common security.”

“There is no doubt that the terrorists located in the common border regions and areas of Iran and Pakistan are led and supported by third countries and they never favour any good action in line with the benefits of the Iranian and Pakistani governments and nations,” Abdollahian said.

During his conversation with Iran’s foreign minister, COAS stressed the importance of maintaining a dialogue and making use of existing lines of communication to handle security-related issues.

“Both sides agreed to operationalize the mechanism of deployment of military liaison officers in each other’s country at an early date to improve coordination and efficiency of response against common threats,” the military’s media wing said.

The statement added that Pakistan and Iran are fraternal neighbors and the destiny of both nations are intertwined.

“Both sides reiterated their commitment to peace, stability, and prosperity in the border region which was identified as an indispensable requirement for the well-being of people living on both sides,” it said.

COAS underscored the centrality of respecting the other state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling it sacrosanct, inviolable, and the most important cardinal of the state-to-state relationship.

“The two sides observed that terrorism was a common threat that needed to be tackled through collaborative efforts, better coordination, and intelligence sharing,” the statement added.

Iranian foreign minister’s visit to Pakistan comes two weeks after the two neighbouring countries saw a massive escalation of regional tension after Iran launched attacks in Pakistan, targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan.

The move prompted a strong condemnation from Islamabad and downgrading of diplomatic ties. Pakistan announced that it was recalling its ambassador from Iran and expelling the Iranian envoy in response to what it termed an unprovoked violation of Pakistani airspace by Iran.

In less than 48 hours of the airspace violation, Pakistan carried out precision strikes in Iran using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons.

Following Pakistan’s strikes, Iran summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to protest against the attack.

The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the region since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

The militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Both are restive, mineral-rich, and largely underdeveloped.