Pakistan, Iran agree to 'de-escalate' after air strikes

Pakistan-Iran Relations: The cabinet headed by Pakistan's caretaker prime minister endorsed a move to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Iran.

Pakistan and Iran "agreed to de-escalate" tensions, Islamabad said, after trading deadly air strikes on militant targets in each other's territory.

Miniature soldiers are seen in front of Iranian and Pakistani flags in this illustration taken, (Reuters)

"The two foreign ministers agreed that working level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened," a summary of a phone call between Islamabad and Tehran's top diplomats, issued by Pakistan's foreign office, noted.

Pakistan's cabinet decided to end a standoff with Iran that saw the countries exchange missile and drone strikes at what they each said were militant targets, news agency Reuters reported citing broadcaster Geo TV. The cabinet headed by Pakistan's caretaker prime minister endorsed a move to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Iran, Geo TV reported.

This comes as Pakistan's foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said that Islamabad does not wish to escalate the standoff with Iran ahead of the cabinet meeting where Pakistan's caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar met with military services chiefs as he aimed at a “broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents”.

Iran said the strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children while Pakistan said that the Iranian attack in its territory killed two children.

During the meeting, Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian by phone and “expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on [a] spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.” A foreign ministry statement said that, "He underscored the need for closer cooperation on security issues."

Amir-Abdollahian said in a statement, after the call, that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan is of great concern to us and the cooperation of the two countries to neutralise and destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan is essential".