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Iran in mad scramble to ‘de-escalate’ Pakistan crisis to avoid direct enemy attacks | Avi Melamed’s insights quoted in this article by Aurora Bosotti for the Express UK.
EXCLUSIVE: Iran has sparked fears of tensions rocking the Middle East extending into a wider regional conflict with a series of attacks on nearby neighbors.
Teheran will need to “de-escalate” tensions with Pakistan after launching a drone strike on its neighbour to avoid fuelling potential direct attacks on Iran, a former Israeli intelligence officer claimed.
Iranian forces caused a flare-up after their missiles struck a village in the southwestern region of Balochistan, killing two people.
The attack was part of a series of strikes on Pakistan, Syria and Iraq that Tehran insisted were “in line with combating terrorism and legitimate self-defence.”
However, Avi Melamed told the Daily Express that Iran will soon need to rein in its aggressiveness to curtail the risks of direct attacks from insurgents in neighboring nations.
The regional analyst said: “Iran’s attacks into these nations contribute to the growing international understanding that it is an aggressive, dangerous and unstable state using violence to achieve its objectives.
‘It also diverts attention from Gaza more towards Iran’s regional aggression both directly and through its proxies like the Houthis.
“In the coming days, we are likely to see Iran seek to de-escalate its clash with Pakistan and restore its deterrence so that its lack of response to Pakistan’s incursion is not seen as an invitation to its enemies in Afghanistan to potentially attack Iran directly or through insurgent groups within Iran’s borders that are supported by their brethren in Afghanistan.”
Pakistan launched a retaliatory attack on Iran on Thursday, with Tehran warning the drone strikes were an “unbalanced and unbearable” response.
Melamed also warned that renewed aggressive actions towards Iraq could fuel further divisiveness that could ultimately backfire on the Tehran regime.
He added: “Its situation vis-a-vis Iraq will be interesting to watch because there is a significant potential that the rifts between Iraqi political camps are further escalated by Tehran’s actions.”
In Iran, the state-run IRNA news agency on Friday reported on Pakistan’s efforts to reduce the tensions and said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian spoke to his Pakistani counterpart, Jalil Abbas Jilani.
The two sides want to cooperate moving forward and return each other’s ambassadors to Tehran and Islamabad, IRNA said. The diplomatic envoys were pulled home amid the escalation.
Though Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks, they had not launched such strikes in the past.
Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, as well as Iran’s neighbouring Sistan and Baluchestan province, have faced a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades.
Separatists in southwestern Pakistan often launch attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese interests in the country, frequently sneaking across the border to hide in Iran.
Iran in mad scramble to ‘de-escalate’ Pakistan crisis to avoid direct enemy attacks | Avi Melamed’s insights quoted in this article by Aurora Bosotti for the Express UK.
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