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Malay Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
‘Offering prayer': Relieved Pakistanis recall ‘horrifying nights' as Israel, Iran trade strikes
TAFTAN (Pakistan), June 20 — Mohammad Hassan anxiously returned to Pakistan from neighbouring Iran this week after witnessing drones, missiles, and explosions tear through Tehran's sky during what he called long, 'horrifying nights'. The 35-year-old University of Tehran student is one of about 3,000 Pakistanis who, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have returned home since Israel launched its aerial war against its long-time enemy last week. Governments around the world are scrambling to evacuate their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling conflict as Israel and Iran trade missile and drone strikes. This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. — AFP pic 'I was in the city centre where most of the strikes took place and even one of the student dormitories was attacked and luckily no one was dead, but students were injured,' Hassan said. There are more than 500 Pakistani students at his university alone, he said, all of them on their way 'back home'. 'Those days and nights were very horrifying... hearing sirens, the wailing, the danger of being hit by missiles. As one peeped out the window in the night, you could see drones, missiles with fire tails,' he told AFP. Vehicles move along a street in central Tehran on June 13, 2025. — AFP pic Ghost town Pakistan and Iran have a shaky diplomatic relationship. They bombed each other's territory little more than a year ago, both claiming to target rebels using their neighbour's land to launch attacks. Yet they have never suspended trade, tourism and academic ties. Iranian consulates across Pakistan have stepped up efforts to promote their universities. Between 25 million and 35 million Pakistani Shiite Muslims also hope to make at least one pilgrimage in their lifetime to holy sites in Iran, foremost among them the sacred city of Qom. Mohammad Khalil, a 41-year-old petroleum engineer, left Tehran three days ago, the capital of the Islamic Republic looking like a ghost town as residents sheltered indoors and families fled. 'In the last two days, I saw people moving out of the city in different vehicles with necessary commodities,' Khalil said. Abdul Ghani Khan sells medical equipment in his hometown of Peshawar in north-west Pakistan and travels to Iran regularly for supplies. He had been in Tehran for a week when the first Israeli missiles fell on Friday. Iran and Israel have traded heavy missile fire in the days since, raising fears of a wider regional conflict. Pakistan is in a difficult position as the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons. It, like Iran, does not recognise Israel but is also a major ally of the United States. Khan had to make the journey home by road because the airspace is now closed. Pakistan has also shut its border crossings with Iran to all except Pakistanis wanting to return home. 'We saw drones, red lights of anti-aircraft guns and I spotted one building catch fire,' Khan said. Pakistani pilgrims evacuated from Iran walk across the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, in Balochistan province on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. — AFP pic 'Offering prayer' Mohammad Asif, a lawyer from Lahore in Pakistan's east, heard about the air strikes while on a pilgrimage in Qom. He wasn't initially afraid and continued his pilgrimage to Mashhad in Iran's northeast, home to the golden-domed Imam Reza shrine. That was until Israeli strikes hit the airport in Mashhad, nearly 1,000 kilometres from the Pakistani border. Samreen Ali was also in Mashhad but, like Asif, cut her trip short and returned with her husband and 15-year-old son. She was praying in a mosque in Mashhad when Israel struck the city. Ali said she had visited Iran nine times before on pilgrimages and never imagined witnessing war there. 'I was offering prayer when I heard two explosions,' she told AFP. She then noticed she wasn't receiving messages on her phone and assumed that 'communication was being restricted... because of the war'. Syed Saqib, 46, was in Qom and had to travel 500 kilometres by bus south-east to Yazd. 'We had to take alternative routes, spend an entire night waiting at a bus terminal,' Saqib said. They then boarded buses to Zahedan, a city near the border with Pakistan's Balochistan province. A relieved Saqib recalled making the border crossing at Taftan, surrounded by families carrying heavy luggage. — AFP
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Relieved Pakistanis recall 'horrifying nights' as Israel, Iran trade strikes
Mohammad Hassan anxiously returned to Pakistan from neighbouring Iran this week after witnessing drones, missiles, and explosions tear through Tehran's sky during what he called long, "horrifying nights". The 35-year-old University of Tehran student is one of about 3,000 Pakistanis who, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have returned home since Israel launched its aerial war against its long-time enemy last week. Governments around the world are scrambling to evacuate their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling conflict as Israel and Iran trade missile and drone strikes. "I was in the city centre where most of the strikes took place and even one of the student dormitories was attacked and luckily no one was dead, but students were injured," Hassan said. There are more than 500 Pakistani students at his university alone, he said, all of them on their way "back home". "Those days and nights were very horrifying... hearing sirens, the wailing, the danger of being hit by missiles. As one peeped out the window in the night, you could see drones, missiles with fire tails," he told AFP. Ghost town Pakistan and Iran have a shaky diplomatic relationship. They bombed each other's territory little more than a year ago, both claiming to target rebels using their neighbour's land to launch attacks. Yet they have never suspended trade, tourism and academic ties. Iranian consulates across Pakistan have stepped up efforts to promote their universities. Between 25 million and 35 million Pakistani Muslims also hope to make at least one pilgrimage in their lifetime to holy sites in Iran, foremost among them the sacred city of Qom. Mohammad Khalil, a 41-year-old petroleum engineer, left Tehran three days ago, the capital of the Islamic Republic looking like a ghost town as residents sheltered indoors and families fled. "In the last two days, I saw people moving out of the city in different vehicles with necessary commodities," Khalil said. Abdul Ghani Khan sells medical equipment in his hometown of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan and travels to Iran regularly for supplies. He had been in Tehran for a week when the first Israeli missiles fell on Friday. Iran and Israel have traded heavy missile fire in the days since, raising fears of a wider regional conflict. Pakistan is in a difficult position as the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons. It, like Iran, does not recognise Israel but is also a major ally of the United States. Khan had to make the journey home by road because the airspace is now closed. Pakistan has also shut its border crossings with Iran to all except Pakistanis wanting to return home. "We saw drones, red lights of anti-aircraft guns and I spotted one building catch fire," Khan said. 'Offering prayer' Mohammad Asif, a lawyer from Lahore in Pakistan's east, heard about the air strikes while on a pilgrimage in Qom. He wasn't initially afraid and continued his pilgrimage to Mashhad in Iran's northeast, home to the golden-domed Imam Reza shrine. That was until Israeli strikes hit the airport in Mashhad, nearly 1,000 kilometres from the Pakistani border. Samreen Ali was also in Mashhad but, like Asif, cut her trip short and returned with her husband and 15-year-old son. She was praying in a mosque in Mashhad when Israel struck the city. Ali said she had visited Iran nine times before on pilgrimages and never imagined witnessing war there. "I was offering prayer when I heard two explosions," she told AFP. She then noticed she wasn't receiving messages on her phone and assumed that "communication was being restricted... because of the war". Syed Saqib, 46, was in Qom and had to travel 500 kilometres by bus southeast to Yazd. "We had to take alternative routes, spend an entire night waiting at a bus terminal," Saqib said. They then boarded buses to Zahedan, a city near the border with Pakistan's Balochistan province. A relieved Saqib recalled making the border crossing at Taftan, surrounded by families carrying heavy luggage.
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Video shows Pakistani students returning home from Tehran
Hundreds of Pakistani students who left their studies in Tehran amid daily strikes on the city by Israel, have crossed back into Pakistan, a local official told CNN.
CNA
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Pakistan shuts border with Iran as Tehran trades strikes with Israel
QUETTA, Pakistan: Pakistan has closed all its border crossings with neighbouring Iran for an indefinite period, provincial officials said on Monday (Jun 16), as Israel and Iran trade intense strikes and threaten further attacks. "Border facilities in all five districts - Chaghi, Washuk, Panjgur, Kech and Gwadar - have been suspended," Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani, a senior official in Balochistan province, which borders Iran, told AFP. Crossing into Iran "has been suspended until further notice", said Atta ul Munim, an official at one of the crossings in Chaghi district. However, there was "no ban on trade" activities at the border and Pakistani nationals needing to return to their country from Iran can cross, he added. "We're expecting around 200 Pakistani students coming today," Atta said. On Sunday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said 450 Pakistani pilgrims were evacuated from Iran, with more to follow, as well as from Iraq - the two countries hosting the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Pakistan, the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons, said on Friday it "stands in solidarity with the Government and the people of Iran" against strikes by Israel, which both Islamabad and Tehran do not recognise. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday warned that the world "should be wary and apprehensive about Israel's nuclear prowess" and accused it of lacking "any international nuclear discipline". Israel is the Middle East's only nuclear power, although undeclared. Media reports have said Pakistan may support Tehran if the conflict were to widen, but officials in Islamabad have reiterated that their country is only showing "moral and diplomatic solidarity". Predominantly Sunni Pakistan shares a more than 900km border with Shiite-majority Iran. The relationship between the two neighbours has been complex, with Pakistan often wary of United States-led sanctions on Tehran and also mindful of its ties with Riyadh, which has repeatedly helped rescue its economy by rolling over overdue debts.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan shuts border with Iran as Tehran trades strikes with Israel
QUETTA: Pakistan has closed all its border crossings with neighboring Iran for an indefinite period, provincial officials said on Monday, as Israel and Iran trade intense strikes and threaten further attacks. 'Border facilities in all five districts — Chaghi, Washuk, Panjgur, Kech and Gwadar — have been suspended,' Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani, a senior official in Balochistan province, which borders Iran, told AFP. Crossing into Iran 'has been suspended until further notice,' said Atta ul Munim, an official at one of the crossings in Chaghi district. However, there was 'no ban on trade' activities at the border and Pakistani nationals needing to return to their the country from Iran can cross, he added. 'We're expecting around 200 Pakistani students coming today,' Atta said. On Sunday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said 450 Pakistani pilgrims were evacuated from Iran, with more to follow, as well as from Iraq — the two countries hosting the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Pakistan, the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons, said on Friday it 'stands in solidarity with the Government and the people of Iran' against strikes by Israel, which both Islamabad and Tehran do not recognize. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday warned that the world 'should be wary and apprehensive about Israel's nuclear prowess' and accused it of lacking 'any international nuclear discipline.' Israel is the Middle East's only nuclear power, although undeclared. Media reports have said Pakistan may support Tehran if the conflict was to widen, but officials in Islamabad have reiterated that their country is only showing 'moral and diplomatic solidarity.' Predominantly Sunni Pakistan shares a more than 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Shiite-majority Iran. The relationship between the two neighbors has been complex, with Pakistan often wary of US-led sanctions on Tehran and also mindful of its ties with Riyadh, which has repeatedly helped rescue its economy by rolling over overdue debts. Bilateral trade between the two countries stands at around $3 billion and officials have vowed to boost it to $10 billion in the coming years.
