BRUSSELS/MOSCOW: The European Union on Thursday said it was deeply worried about the “spiral of violence in the Middle East and beyond” after Pakistan and Iran struck each other’s territory.
“These attacks, including in Pakistan, in Iraq, and Iran now are of utmost concern for the European Union because they violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and they have also a destabilising effect on the region,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said.
In a separate statement, Russia on Thursday also urged Islamabad and Tehran to de-escalate tensions.
“We are watching with concern the escalation of the situation in the Iran-Pakistan border area that has been growing in recent days. We call on the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to resolve emerging issues exclusively through political and diplomatic means,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The separate remarks come after Pakistan said that it undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against what it called terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran, a little over a day after the neighbour also conducted missile strikes on Pakistani territory.
Iran summons Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to protest air strike
Pakistan had earlier also 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.
The latest escalation of tension risks adding to multiple regional crises amid Israel’s aggression in Gaza and pro-Palestinian Houthis’ attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.