TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for any regional conflict and play its role to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday, urging Tehran to refrain from any escalatory measures in response to the killing of a top Iranian general by America.
Maj Gen Soleimani, 62, the head of Iran’s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed in a US drone attack while leaving Baghdad International Airport early on Friday, sparking fears of a new war in Middle East. The strike also killed deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Addressing the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, Qureshi highlighted the regional situation in the wake of Soleimani’s killing and Pakistan’s policy on the issue. “Pakistan’s soil will not be used against any State, and Pakistan will not be part of the regional conflicts,” Qureshi said. He said Pakistan was also against unilateral action and would play its role to de-escalate tensions in the region. “Pakistan does not support any unilateral action. If there is fire in the neighbourhood, its heat will be felt in Pakistan,” he said.
