Iran’s foreign minister to visit Pakistan next week, Islamabad says

Pakistan said on Monday Iran’s foreign minister will visit the country next week, signaling efforts to rebuild ties after the neighbours exchanged missile strikes last week at what they said were militant targets.

This was announced following a telephonic conversation between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Iran, a statement by the Foreign Office said, and is largely seen as a major normalisation of bilateral ties.

“At the invitation of Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, will undertake a visit to Pakistan on 29 January 2024,” the press release revealed.

Ambassadors of Pakistan, Iran may return back to their posts by January 26, the FO also announced.

This development comes nearly a week after the two neighbouring countries saw 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 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.