Former diplomat Abdul Basit has urged both nations to find a diplomatic solution after Pakistan struck terrorist hideouts in Iran’s Siestan-o-Baluchistan province. Meanwhile, former foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said Pakistan acted “responsibly” and “proved with this response that we don’t want to do it but we can do it.” The strikes came after Iran had attacked Pakistan, targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan. Former high commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, highlights the need to find a diplomatic solution, saying Pakistan can’t include Iran in the same “category” as India. Shireen Mazari described Pakistan’s response as “swift and proportionate” while Khawaja Asif stated that “Pakistan has crossed a line by hitting inside Iranian territory, a threshold that even the US and Israel have been careful to not breach”. Some experts are suggesting that third-party mediation is needed to ensure that a sudden but increasingly dangerous crisis doesn’t spiral out of control.