Iran arrests eight Pak officials for crossing territorial waters

Iran arrests eight Pak officials for crossing territorial watersQuetta (Pakistan), Nov.2 : Iranian marine guards have apprehended eight Pakistani officials, who allegedly crossed into Iran’s territorial waters.

The arrest of eight officials of Pakistan’s Fisheries Department, including a marine inspector, comes in the wake of 10 Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel having been caught by Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) last week.

The Daily TImes quoted sources, as confirming that eight Pakistanis arrested by the Iranian Marine Security Agency have been moved to Chabahar, an Iranian port city, for further investigation.

The arrested personnel had not been released despite repeated requests by Pakistan, they added.

Tensions between Iran and Pakistan have mounted in recent weeks after a suicide bomb struck the Iranian town of Sarbaz, killing the deputy chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and around 40 others.

Subsequently, Iran sealed its border with Pakistan and accused Islamabad of harbouring Abdul Malik Reigi, the chief of Jundullah, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

Last week, officials arrested 10 Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel from inside Pakistani territory after they allegedly crossed the Pakistani border in their hunt for Jundullah activists.

Jundallah emerged seven years ago in Iran with claims to fight for the rights of minority Baloch Sunnis in Iran. (ANI)