According to three Iranian officials, an Iranian attack on Pakistan this week, met with a swift military response, and causing concerns about increased regional unrest, was motivated by Iran's focus on enhancing internal security rather than its aspirations in the Middle East.
According to a report from the Reuters, Iran struck Pakistan on Tuesday. This drew a rapid military counter which has raised fears about greater regional conflict. This was due in part because of Iran's effort to bolster its internal security thus placing its goals for the wider region on hold. Both of the well-armed territories have had their share of opposition in the past. However, in this regard, both parties want to place a lid on the strains that have been a result of high-profile border violations in recent years.
The Targets
The target of the Iranian strike was described as Sunni Muslim militants that are supposedly located in southwest Pakistan. Two days later Pakistan struck back with the targets being the Jaish al-Adl militant group. This was the first attack on Iranian territory since the Iranian- Iraq war which was almost four decades ago.
This quick head-butting has caused great concern about Middle Eastern stability as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. This has led to several Iranian-backed military groups striking the United States and other countries' shipping routes in the Red Sea led by the Houthi rebels. Then there is also the military group Hezbollah firing missiles over the Northern Israel border. Both military groups have gone on record saying that these strikes are in solidarity with the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah however has gone on record that it is open to negotiations despite the strikes. However, the recent strikes are far from the deadly territory that is Gaza. Both Iran and Pakistan have a history of striking Government targets through military groups with officials on both sides often pointing fingers at one another.
It is becoming more and more clear that as the conflict along the Gaza Strip continues stability within the Middle Eastern region is slowly coming apart. The Houthi rebel strikes within the Red Sea have led to several superpowers requesting actions from the United Nations to missile strikes from the Hezbollah military group both of which are backed by Iran. All of these actions have the potential to seemingly pull even more territories into the conflict.
