Iran mounted pressure on Pakistan to recover border guards from the of militant captivity on Thursday, warning Pakistan of a cross-border raid by an elite task force to free the abducted men from Jaishul Adl’s bases.
“If there is no cooperation from the security authorities of Pakistan, Iranian task force units will attack the base of terrorists inside Pakistan,” said Syed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, rapporteur of Iran’s parliament on national security and foreign policy. “Iran is prepared to act independently to crush the Jaishul Adl if the Pakistan government is incapable of doing so.”
At the same time, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged the United Nations help to secure the release of Iranian border soldiers abducted by militants. He said “mere condemnation of acts of terrorism is not enough.”
His urgent plea to the UN chief came after Jaishul Adl, the rebel group operating in southeast Iran, claimed to have killed one of the five abducted soldiers and threatened further executions.