Pakistan on Wednesday has announced that it is closing its borders with neighboring Iran and Afghanistan due to the general elections. The border will be closed to "ensure full security" during crucial general elections on Thursday, the Islamabad-based press is reporting.

“To ensure full security during the general elections to be held in Pakistan on Feb. 8, border crossings with Afghanistan and Iran, would remain closed both for cargo and pedestrians,” Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zehra Baloch said in a statement. The border crossing operations would resume on Friday, she continued.

Iran shuts border with Pakistan

Iran on February 5 announced that it is closing the border with Pakistan amid the diplomatic tussle between the two nations over cross-border airstrikes to eliminate the terror groups. Islami Republic announced that it is shutting the border with Pakistan in order to enhance the security, following the deadly twin bomb attack in the southern city of Kerman that claimed lives of 89 people on January 3.

Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, was quoted as saying by the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) that Iranian government was prioritizing border crossings along borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan due to the terror attacks on its soil. The closure was implemented along the range for almost 1,000 kilometers on the border.

The bombings in Kerman was carried out on the death anniversary of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s Quds force commander Qassem Suleimani who was killed in the drone strike ordered by the former US President Donald Trump in 2020. The responsibility of the attack was claimed by Islamic State (IS) terror group. Iran launched a series of precision ans drone airstrikes on two strongholds of the Pakistan based terror faction Jaish ul-Adl in the Balochistan province. The attack was carried out on village of Koh-e-Sabz in Panjgur District, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the Iran–Pakistan border, and prompted retaliatory attack from Islamabad. Both the countries agreed to de-escalate the situation and restore their diplomatic ties.

The border crossing operations would resume on Friday,

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