F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday telephoned Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and discussed tense situation of the Middle East.
During the telephonic conversation, FM Qureshi and his Iranian counterpart discussed matters pertaining to peace and security in the region were discussed.
On the other hand, Iraq’s foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador on the back of repeated US air strikes on Iraqi soil that killed Iraqi militia fighters and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muahndis.
The foreign ministry said the act was, “a flagrant breach of Iraq’s sovereignty and of all international laws and norms that regulate relations between countries and prohibit the use of their lands to carry out attacks on neighbouring countries.”
The foreign ministry said it sent an official complaint to the UN secretary general and UN Security Council over US air strikes and killing of Iraqi and allied commanders.
A US drone strike killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday.
Several rockets fell on Saturday near the United States embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
