Iran promises to smoke terrorists out of Pakistan

Militants based out of Pakistan have been targeting soldiers of countries sharing borders with the country.

With the tensions around the Indo-Pak border running high, following speculation that India might execute a retaliatory action against terror camps, which are provided with safe haven inside Pakistan by its army, the country has also been warned of similar action from Iran.

Last year, witnessed actions taken by India in Pakistani territory, in what are now termed as 'Surgical strikes,' following an attack on an air force base in Pathankot. And there is a growing probability that similar actions might be taken following the brutal killings and mutilation of two Indian soldiers.

Now, Pakistan has been warned by the head of the Iranian armed forces that Tehran would hit terrorist bases inside the country if its government fails to stop cross-border attacks by Sunni militants.

Earlier last month, 10 Iranian border guards were reportedly killed by a Sunni militant group called Jaish, using long range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Iran's border area which it shares with Pakistan has been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs as well as separatist militants.

According to Iran's State news agency IRNA, Major General Mohammad Baqeri said, "We cannot accept the continuation of this situation."

The Major General, who is the head of the Iranian armed forces also reportedly said, "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases." He added, "If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are." The foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif had visited Pakistan last week and reportedly asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security while receiving assurances that Pakistan would deploy additional security along the border.

In a similar warning in 2014, the country had said that it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al Adl. And Pakistan had responded that such an action would violate international law and issued a counter warning to the Iranian forces not to cross the border.

The issue had calmed down at the time when a local Sunni cleric had stepped in and helped resolve the situation, with four of the five guards being released a few months later, while one was killed by the militants.

Killings of eight Iranian border guards in April 2015 and 14 in October 2013, have previously been claimed by the group.

The Sunni militant group, Jaish al Adl, has been blamed for carrying out several attack the country's security forces in an attempt to highlight what it calls discrimination against the minority Sunni muslims in a Shi'te majority Iran.

OneIndia News