Iran has expressed gratitude towards Pakistan for rescuing eight Iranian fishermen, whose boat had caught fire in international waters.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani voiced the gratitude on Thursday, three days after the incident, in an Urdu-language post on X.
He appreciated Pakistan Navy’s “timely action,” which he said, had been taken on “humanitarian grounds.”
“The relationship of friendship between the people of Iran and Pakistan is not bound by any border,” Kan’ani added.
PNS (Pakistan Navy Ship) Yarmook carried out the rescue mission on Monday by taking “swift action” after hearing a distress call from the boat, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported, citing the country’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
As well as rescuing the fishermen, the Pakistani vessel played a role in extinguishing the fire, the ISPR added.
The paper also quoted the Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Reza Amiri-Moghaddam as similarly appreciating the humanitarian operation conducted by Pakistan Navy.
“I would like to wholeheartedly appreciate Pakistan Navy for responding actively and conscientiously to the distress call of assistance from an Iranian fishing boat caught in an uncontrollable fire in the open sea and safely rescuing eight Iranian fishermen,” the envoy said in a statement.
“Iran and Pakistan have a close mutual support and cooperation in rescue and humanitarian assistance operations in international waters through their vigilance and professionalism, which was carried out this time by Pakistan Navy. Iran and Pakistan have always remained committed to standing by each other in hard times during the history of the two brotherly countries,” he added.
In January, the two neighboring countries witnessed an escalation of cross-border tensions over counter-terrorism operations.
On January 16, Iran launched simultaneous drone and missile attacks on two bases of Jaish ul-Adl, a terror outfit that was formed in 2012 and has conducted several attacks on the Iranian soil in recent years.
Two days later, Pakistan carried out strikes against, what it called, bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army in regions close to Iran’s border, with Tehran condemning the attacks as unacceptable and unbalanced.
Shortly afterwards, however, Pakistan announced a complete restoration of its diplomatic relations with Iran, and the Iranian and Pakistani ambassadors returned to their posts in late January.
