October 22, The Iran Project - Accordingly, 12 local Basij forces and the border regiment forces stationed at a border post in Mirjaveh region in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan were abducted by the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group on October 16 and then taken across the border into Pakistan.

On Sunday (Oct. 21), the Pakistan-based terrorist group posted two photos on its social media channel and claimed responsibility for the abduction of 12 Iranian security personnel, including IRGC and Army forces.

On Monday (Oct. 22), director general of the Interior Ministry’s border affairs department, Shahriar Heidari announced that abducted Iranian border guards are in perfect health.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that talks are underway between Tehran and Islamabad to determine the fate of the kidnapped forces.

Zarif noted Pakistani government has vowed to cooperate with Iran in locating the abducted border guards, adding that Pakistan is responsible for the occurrence of such an incident, and the holding of the abductees on Pakistani soil.

“It seems like their shared borders with Afghanistan and India hold more significance for them [Pakistan] than their shared borders with Iran,” said Zarif, adding that “at any rate, they have promised us to increase their forces under suitable conditions, although the presence of their forces on some parts of their borders have already increased after that incident.

Meanwhile during a meeting with Pakistani media activists on Monday, the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost said that Iran-Pakistan cooperation on bilateral, regional, international levels is solid enough that it cannot be undermined by enemies.

He warned that focusing too much on differences would make it all the easier for outside powers to expand their presence and intervention in the region.

Also, the IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif announced that the IRGC’s commander Major-General Mohammad-Ali Jafari and Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour heading a delegation have been dispatched to Pakistan for investigating liberation of kidnapped border guards.

Earlier on Saturday (Oct. 20), in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, the Pakistani Interior Minister Shehryar Afridi expressed his regret over the hostage taking incident and ensured his Iranian counterpart that his country will spare no efforts to secure the release of the abducted Iranian border guards.