After India, Iran warns Pakistan of 'retaliation' after a suicide attack on Iranian security forces

Iran has voiced a stern warning to Pakistan to take action, accusing the country of perpetrating a deadly suicide attack on the Iranian security forces this week by terrorist outfit Jaish al-Adl that killed 27 people. 

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari has called Islamabad for a crackdown or notified them of "retaliation".

"The government of Pakistan must pay the price of harbouring these terrorist groups and this price will undoubtedly be very high," Jafari told Iranian media. 

He added, "If Pakistan fails to punish them in the near future, Iran will do so based on international law and will retaliate against the terrorist."

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Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the Pakistan military and intelligence agency ISI saying that "sheltering and silence" equals to backing the perpetrators. 

The comments come a day ahead of Iran regional rival Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's visit to Pakistan. 

Jaish al-Adl has been functioning since 2012, after its parent terror outfit Jundullah was dissolved after its leader Abdolmalek Rigi was captured and executed by Iran in 2010. 

The attack was one of the deadliest one on the security forces of Iran on Wednesday, days after the country celebrated 40 years of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. 

Two days before Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his staunch warning to Pakistan of 'revenge' for the attack on CRPF jawaans in Pulwama on February 14, for which Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility. 

The Indian government, as a response to the attack, acted against Pakistan by withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status accorded to them. It meant that the customs duty on basic goods exported from the neighboring country to India was raised to 200%.

Following the ghastly attack, the world has shown solidarity with India denouncing the terror attack. 

Russia President Vladimir Putin has personally confirmed counter-terrorism cooperation to India while sending his condolences. While Washington has directly warned Islamabad to end "support" and "safe haven" to terrorists

"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.

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