Pakistan seeks to de-escalate crisis with Iran after deadly airstrikes that spiked tensions

By MUNIR AHMED and JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s political and military leaders have moved to de-escalate tensions with Iran after deadly airstrikes by Tehran and Islamabad this week that killed at least 11 people and imperiled fraught relations between the neighbors. Friday’s decision was apparently reached at a meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee, chaired by the country’s caretaker prime minister and also attended by the powerful army chief. A statement said they discussed the situation following the Iranian airstrikes and praised the “professional, calibrated and proportionate response” by Pakistan’s military. It said that existing communication channels between Pakistan and Iran “should be used to address each other’s security concerns in the larger interest of regional peace and stability.”