Nine Pakistanis killed in gunmen attack in southeastern Iran, Pakistan confirms

Gunmen have killed nine Pakistani nationals in a restive southeastern border area of Iran, Pakistan has confirmed, amid efforts by the two countries to mend ties after recent tit-for-tat attacks.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported the attack in Saravan in Sistan-Baluchestan province. It identified the dead only as foreign nationals and said no individuals or groups had claimed responsibility for the shootings.

The Baluch rights group Haalvash said on its website that the victims were Pakistani labourers who lived at a car repair shop where they worked.

Calling the attack a “terrorist incident”, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it was in touch with Iranian authorities and had asked Tehran to investigate the incident and to hold to account those involved in this “heinous crime.”

The shootings occurred ahead of a planned visit on Monday to Pakistan by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.