Gunmen in Iran kill nine Pakistanis days after tit-for-tat strikes

Unidentified gunmen killed nine Pakistani workers in a restive southeastern border area of Iran on Saturday, Pakistan's ambassador and a rights group said.

"Deeply shocked by horrifying killing of 9 Pakistanis in Saravan. Embassy will extend full support to bereaved families," the Pakistani ambassador to Tehran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, said on the X platform.

"We called upon Iran to extend full cooperation in the matter."

"The Iran-Pakistan border creates an opportunity for economic exchanges... and must be protected against any insecurity," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Mudassir Tipu as he received the ambassador's credentials on Saturday, state media reported.

The Balouch rights group Haalvash said on its website that the victims were Pakistani labourers who lived at an auto repair shop where they worked. Three others were wounded, it said.

Iran's state media identified the dead only as foreign nationals and said no individuals or groups had claimed responsibility for the shootings in Saravan in restless Sistan-Baluchestan province.

"It is a horrifying and despicable incident and we condemn it unequivocally," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.

"We are in touch with Iranian authorities and have underscored the need to immediately investigate the incident and hold to account those involved."

The shootings occurred as Iranian state media said the Pakistani and Iranian ambassadors were returning to their postings after being recalled when the neighbouring countries exchanged missile strikes last week aimed at what each said were militant targets.

Reuters