The Iranian armed forced head on Monday warned Pakistan that it will strike 'militant safe havens' inside the country if the government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks.
Ten Iranian border guards were killed in April in an attack on the frontiers of Pakistan. Iran had said that a Sunni militant group -- Jaish al Adl -- had shot the guards with long-range guns, which were fired from Pakistan, according to Reuters.
Jaish al Adl is a Sunni militant group in Pakistan which carries out attacks against Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against minority Sunni Muslims in Iran, where the majority are Shi'ites.
The Iranian leader said that the country can no longer accept the dismal conditions along the country's border, which has been plagued by separatist militants.
"We cannot accept the continuation of this situation," Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the head of the Iranian armed forces was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases."
"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are," Baqeri added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had visited Pakistan shortly after the attack on the Iranian guards, and had asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve border security along the region. Sharif, in turn, had assured Zarif that his government would take additional measures to secure borders.
In 2014, Iran had warned Pakistan of sending its troops to rescue five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al Adl. Pakistan, however, had said at the time that such an action would be a violation of international laws. Pakistan had also warned Iranian forces to not cross borders, and the situation was later resolved.
