KHORRAMABAD, JAN 10 /DNA/: The Foreign Office on Saturday issued a travel advisory urging Pakistani nationals to avoid unnecessary travel to Iran amid growing unrest in the neighbouring country.
In a statement, FO said, “For their safety and security, Pakistani nationals are advised to avoid all unnecessary travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran until conditions improve.”
It also advised Pakistani nationals residing in Iran to exercise “extreme caution, remain vigilant, minimise non-essential travel, and stay in regular contact with the Pakistani missions” in Tehran, Zahidan and Mashhad.
Protests have taken place across Iran for nearly two weeks in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, leading to authorities imposing internet restrictions.
Iranian rights group HRANA said on Friday it had documented at least 62 deaths, including 14 security personnel and 48 protesters, since demonstrations began on December 28.
At the start of January, US President Donald Trump had warned that the US was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran’s security forces killed protesters.
In response, in his first comments on the escalating protests, Khamenei on Friday called the demonstrators “vandals” and “saboteurs”.
In a speech broadcast on state TV, he said Trump’s hands “are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians”, in apparent reference to Israel’s June war against the Islamic republic, which the US supported and joined with strikes of its own.
He predicted the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.
For his part, Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders on Friday, saying: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
“I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now,” he added.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson said Islamabad firmly opposed any foreign interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, including Iran, in its first public comments since protests erupted.
He said Pakistan viewed the situation in Iran as an internal matter and rejected external pressure or aggression. The spokesperson stressed that Pakistan did not wish to comment on Iran’s internal developments.
