Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is on an official visit to neighboring Pakistan, said the country’s officials have pledged to make all-out efforts to help free a number of Iranian border guards recently kidnapped and taken into Pakistan by Takfiri terrorists.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Islamabad early on Wednesday, Zarif hailed the bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan as very good and said the two countries consult with each other on all issues.

“Unfortunately, we recently witnessed some honorable Iranian border guards taken hostage by terrorist groups,” he further said, stressing the need to continue talks with the Pakistani authorities to help free the abductees.

“On the previous trips of an Iranian delegation and during phone calls with me, Pakistani officials have promised and pledged that their government will try its hardest to secure the release of the border guards of our country,” Zarif added, according to Tasnim news agency.

On October 16, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force said a number of its troops and local Basij forces had been abducted at a border post southeast of Iran.

In a statement, the Ground Force’s Quds Base said a number of 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 after acts of treason and collusion involving an element or elements of the anti-Revolution groups who had infiltrated the country.

Last week, Commander of the IRGC Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour traveled to Pakistan to pursue the release of the abducted border guards.

Source: Iranian media