A war of words broke out between Pakistan and Iran on Thursday after Islamabad asked Tehran to hand over details of the arrested former Indian Navy officer, accused of sabotage and terrorism by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s demands from Iran follows the March 27 “video confession” by the purported Indian citizen who claimed that he was based in the Iranian port of Chabahar and wanted to disrupt the port facilities in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
On Thursday, the Pakistani media reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson saying that Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost has received a formal request to share details of the activities in Chabahar by the Indian and his alleged accomplice, Rakesh alias Rizwan.
In response, the Iranian embassy in Islamabad has put out a strongly-worded public statement saying, “The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran believes spreading of such news items is the product of thinking which does not like further expansion of ties between the two countries.” The Iranian statement described the reports connecting the arrested Indian with Iran as “undignified and insulting.”
However, Pakistan’s spokesperson Nafees Zakaria announced the plan to carry out an international campaign with the help of the “video confession” and prove Indian involvement in terrorist acts being committed on Pakistani soil.
The issue of the detained Indian also featured in the press conference addressed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Islamabad last weekend when he rejected that the issue was discussed bilaterally between Pakistan and Iran during his visit.
