TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Pakistani officials have promised to take more actions to liberate the Iranian border guards who were recently kidnapped by terrorists at Iran-Pakistan border.

“The Pakistani officials, including prime minister, foreign minister and army commander, promised that they will take more actions to liberate all the Iranian hostages. They also promised that they will have good news for Iran in future,” he told the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA) in an interview published on Monday.

Pointing to his visit to Pakistan in October, he said that the armed forces will follow up implementation of the agreements between the countries made during the visit.

“During that trip, we agreed to take actions to prevent any evil moves in long-term,” he said.

On October 15, the Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group kidnapped 12 Iranian border guards at the Mirjaveh border post in Sistan-Baluchestan province and took them to Pakistan. 

The abductees were stationed at a border post in Iran’s Mirjaveh region when they came under attack from the terrorists.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said the security personnel were unconscious when they were kidnapped. According to the IRGC, infiltrators had helped with the abduction of the military staff to Pakistan.

The border guards were from local Basij forces, policemen and the IRGC personnel.

During his visit to Pakistan, Zarif met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tehran Rifat Masood said on October 23 that Islamabad is determined to rescue Iranian border guards from kidnappers.

“The Pakistani military and government officials are making efforts in this respect and hopefully Iran’s kidnapped guards will be found,” she told IRNA.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry also issued a statement announcing readiness to help liberate the border guards.

NA/PA