Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi traveled to Islamabad last week to discuss a series of attacks on Pakistani security posts along the Pakistan-Iran border. The first attack happened Jan. 25 at Kech, not far from Gwadar port, followed by two more Feb. 2 at Panjgur and Noshki. As usual, the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The insurgents were highly trained, and in the Feb. 2 attacks a 70-hour operation was required to clear out both locations.

After investigations, Islamabad discovered that the attacks were being launched from across its borders with Iran and Afghanistan. Therefore, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed invited his counterpart Vahidi to visit and help find a solution. Vahidi met with the civil and military leadership and “strongly condemned the recent terror attacks in Pakistan and said his country considers terrorist attacks in Pakistan attacks on Iran,” according to a statement released by Ahmed.

Referring to the Pakistan-Iran border as “a border of peace and friendship,” Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, said that collective efforts were needed to deny space to miscreants. Vahidi agreed that stability in Afghanistan was a “collective regional responsibility.” Also present at the meetings were Brig. Gen. Ahmad Ali Goudarzi, commander of the Iranian border guards; Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Ali Hosseini; and the Iranian military attache, Col. Mostafa Ghanbarpour.

It was decided to complete “fencing work on the Pakistan-Iran border at the earliest [and] it was agreed that the territory of Pakistan and Iran should not be used for terrorist activities against each other,” the statement continued. In addition, markets would be set up along the border to help in the economic uplift of people on both sides and joint working groups would be formed to look after border management.