Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
If needed, Iran may consider negotiating with kidnappers of 5 border guards through third-party, a member of Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said on Feb. 16, Iran's ISNA News Agency reported.
"Pakistani government has vowed to follow up with the issue," Seyyed Hossein Naghavi-Hossieni said.
"Tehran has warned Islamabad the Pakistani government is directly responsible for the abduction case," he added.
Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli also said on February 15 that Pakistani officials should be held accountable in the recent kidnapping of five Iranian border guards, Iran's IRIB News Agency reported on Feb 16.
"An Iranian delegation will soon be heading to Pakistan to discuss the matter with Pakistani authorities," Fazli said.
The soldiers were kidnapped last week by terrorist group Jaish al-Adl in Iran's southeastern region close to the border and were taken to Pakistani territory.
The group has demanded that its members be released from Iranian jails in return for the soldiers' release.
Footage of five kidnapped Iranian border guards were published on Saturday for the first time.
In the video, the soldiers said that they are being held by the terrorist group Jeish al-Adl and asked the Iranian government to meet the demands of the kidnappers.