Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Airstrikes At Targets In Iran
Iran InternationalJan 18
Pakistan launched a series of missile and drone strikes against insurgent groups in neighboring Iran on Thursday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry announced. Two days earlier, Iran claimed to have attacked militant bases on Pakistani soil, prompting Islamabad to recall its ambassador from Tehran in protest.
Iran state media reported at least nine people were killed in the Pakistan strikes [with numbers varying per different outlets]. Pakistan suggested it had "credible evidence" of an impending large-scale, cross-border operation in what it described as a terrorist attack emanating from Iranian soil.
Pakistan had every right to carry out retaliatory strikes on Iranian soil after Iran blatantly violated its national sovereignty to allegedly fight so-called "terrorists" on Pakistani territory. Moreover, Tehran has done nothing to prevent Baluch separatists from establishing safe havens on the Iranian side of the border. The violation of three states' territorial integrity within 48 hours makes it unmistakably clear that Tehran is deliberately stoking regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. The Iranian regime's irrational strategy threatens to trigger an all-out regional war, which could now also involve nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Iran's attack against the Jaish al-Adl terrorists was the next act of self-defense after Tehran had already struck targets in Syria and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region in retaliation for recent anti-Iran aggression orchestrated by Israel's Mossad. Moreover, the Iranian strikes came after Tehran repeatedly called on Islamabad to take action against the cross-border anti-Iran operations of the Jaish al-Adl extremists — who also have links to Israel. While Tehran respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and all other states, it will not stand idly by if its national security is jeopardized.
There is a 50% chance that Iran will possess a nuclear weapon before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.