Iran’s Strike in Pakistan Adds to Middle East Tensions

Iran carried out a missile attack in the western part of its neighbor, nuclear-armed Pakistan, targeting sites linked to militant group Jaysh al-Adl, and adding another flare-up to the already tense situation in the Middle East.

Jaysh al-Adl is considered the “most active and influential” Sunni militant group in Sistan-Baluchestan, according to the office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. The group is designated as a terrorist group by Washington and Tehran.

This is the third strike in one week from Iran on another country in the region, after attacks on targets in Iraq and Syria in recent days.

Following the attack, which Pakistan said killed two children, Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran and said the strike was a “blatant violation” of its airspace. 

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry denounced the attack and summoned an Iranian diplomat in Islamabad “to convey our strongest condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

Pakistan warned there would be consequences, saying that “The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran.”

Iran and Pakistan have had cordial relations but each has accused the other of harboring militants that perpetrate attacks.

The latest flare-up in the Middle East comes days after a missile attack carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed a prominent Kurdish energy businessman at his home in Erbil.

Some outlets note that Peshraw Dizayee, who died in the attack with four family members, had purported ties with Israeli intelligence services and that the attack was in fact an assassination.

The tensions in the region have intensified in recent weeks, as the Iran-backed Houthis ramped up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and declared open season on any U.S. ship transiting the area, in response to last week’s U.S.-UK missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Despite the most recent flare-up with the Iranian attack in Pakistan, oil prices fell early on Wednesday, reflecting worse-than-expected Chinese GDP data and a rising U.S. dollar.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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