NSC meeting under way amidst Pakistan-Iran tension

ISLAMABAD: An important meeting of the National Security Committee is under way amidst the tense situation between Pakistan and Iran.

According to sources, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar is chairing the meeting started at 4:30 pm.

Sources said that the National Security Committee meeting is being attended by Army Chief General Asim Munir, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, other service chiefs, as well as representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs and defence.

The committee will be briefed on the Pakistan-Iran tension, and decisions will be made regarding the security situation in the country.

Additionally, important decisions on Pakistan-Iran relations will also be discussed during the meeting.

It is noteworthy that due to the recent tense situation between Pakistan and Iran, PM Kakar cut short his visit to

Davos and returned to the country on Thursday. Similarly, caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, who was in Uganda, also curtailed his visit in response to the escalating tensions.

On Tuesday, Iran launched attacks in Pakistan, targeting what it characterized as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan, as reported by Iranian state media. The incident prompted strong condemnation from Islamabad, leading to the severing of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

In a subsequent move, Pakistan retaliated by striking “hideouts used by terrorist organizations, namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF),” situated in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. The operation, codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar,’ was intelligence-based.

Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that nine individuals lost their lives in the attack on a village in the city of Saravan. Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated that all the deceased “were foreign nationals.”

Condemning the strikes, Iran summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires “to protest and request an explanation from the Pakistani government,” according to a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.