Reactions to Referring to Victims of Pakistan Attack as 'Foreign Nationals': 'They are the Most Real Children of Iran'

Statements by officials of the Islamic Republic regarding the attack by Pakistan on Iranian soil and referring to the nine victims of this attack as 'foreign nationals' have sparked reactions on social media. Alireza Marhamati, the security and police deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, announced on Thursday, January 18, during a live television program that in the attack by Pakistan around 4:30 AM on a border village in Iran, 'three women and four children' were killed who were 'foreign nationals,' and in another explosion that occurred further away near the city of Saravan, 'we had no casualties there.' In response to these statements, the host of the state television said: 'Well, thank God, thank you.' The claim of the victims being 'foreign nationals' has also been repeated by other government-affiliated media, including Nournews, which is linked to the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic. In a report by Nournews, the names of the children killed in this attack were announced as 'Mahikan Baluch, Hani Doost, Baber Doost, and Cheragh Doost.' These statements have triggered reactions on social media, with most users condemning the labeling of the victims of the Pakistani airstrike on Iranian soil as 'foreign nationals.' Ali Karimi, a veteran footballer and opponent of the Islamic Republic, reacted to the killing of several citizens in Pakistan's retaliatory attack on Iranian soil, calling the Islamic Republic a 'criminal clerical regime' and stating that tensions 'have become shaky.' Mahsa Pirayi, the daughter of the bereaved Minou Majidi, who was killed during the suppression of the nationwide protests in 2022 by the forces of the Islamic Republic, emphasized that 'all of us Iranians, whether Baluch, Kurd, Lor, Arab, or Persian, with or without identification, are considered 'foreign nationals' by the Islamic Republic, and our lives are worthless!' She also added: 'However, the blood of the deprived and oppressed border residents of Iran has always been easy and cost-free for the apartheid regime!' The uncle of the bereaved Pouya Bakhtiari, one of the victims of the November 2019 protests, published an image of the protests of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan on social media, which had a placard stating, 'We, the Baluch people, are not without identification, Afghan, or Pakistani. We are Iranians. Return our national identity.' Mehrdad Bakhtiari stated: 'People like Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic, and other clowns whose allegiance is unclear, call the victims of Saravan and the Baluch people, who are the most real children of Iran, foreign nationals.' This reaction from Mehrdad Bakhtiari was to the statements made by the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic, who on Thursday, without referring to the Pakistani attack on Iranian soil, referred to it as an 'explosion' and said: 'According to received reports, four children, three women, and two men from foreign nationals were killed in an explosion in a village three or four kilometers from the Iranian border.' Fatemeh Heydari, the sister of the bereaved Javad Heydari, one of the victims of the 2022 protests, also published a group picture of Ali Khamenei alongside several officials of the Islamic Republic, calling them 'foreign nationals.' Ebrahim Allahbakhshi, a human rights activist, also re-shared an image of two of the deceased children, addressing Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, writing: 'You and your mercenaries are the foreign nationals, not our innocent children.' A Baluch activist in Sistan and Baluchestan published an image of the reaction of Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, a reporter for state television, who some opponents call 'interrogator reporter,' who, using an emoji, said, 'It was not even clear whether Iran and Pakistan were coordinated!' Khalilollah Baluchi wrote: 'These tragedies are a form of border demarcation, a bloody demarcation with the state television host who finds my death amusing.' Mohsen Zahoori, a journalist in Iran, emphasized: 'What has no meaning for the Islamic Republic is the death of Iranians.' Mohammad Izadi, a philosophy expert and political activist, considered the attack by 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan' on Saravan as 'a violation of Iran's national sovereignty' and emphasized that 'the cause was the uncoordinated attack by the IRGC into Pakistani territory.' According to Izadi, 'The result of that foolishness is a subsequent position of weakness that claims that in the Pakistani attack on Saravan, 'non-Iranian' citizens were killed. The tension-creating actions of the Islamic Republic in the region and neighboring countries contradict the national interests of the country.' Erfan Sabati, a sociologist, also quoted a saying by Jean-Paul Sartre that 'the situation should be viewed through the eyes of those who have suffered the most,' stating: 'Western intellectuals and politicians should engage with the Baluch women and children to understand the gross and continuous violations of human rights in both 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan' and 'Islamic Republic of Iran.' Some users have also reacted to the fundamental issue of the Pakistani airstrike on Iranian soil following the IRGC's missile and drone attack on that country. Hamid Mohammadi, a journalist, stated that 'the result of the hollow power of the mullahs and the commanders of the IRGC and the army was the impact of Pakistan's missiles on Iranian soil,' adding: 'They even failed in diplomacy with the 'friendly' government. The fate of that defense and incompetent commanders should be sealed! If they had no orders to defend, it would be 'treason' by the commander-in-chief; if they had orders and failed, they are incompetent.' Saeed Qasemi-Nejad, a senior researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated: 'Missile launching and military aggression against a neighboring country whose military capabilities exceed those of Iran, is a foolish and anti-national policy in any regime.' A Pakistani security official stated on Thursday to CNN that this country targeted 'seven points inside Iran' in retaliatory attacks. Reuters also published a statement from the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that this country targeted 'separatist militants' in Iranian territory during 'a series of fully coordinated and precise military attacks' and 'killed several terrorists.' The ministry described the purpose of the attacks as 'ensuring the security and national interests of Pakistan' and stated that it 'fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran.' On the other hand, Iranian news agencies reported early Thursday, citing Alireza Marhamati, the security and police deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, that in the 'missile attack' from Pakistan on the 'area' of Saravan County, 'nine people' including two men, three women, and four children were killed. According to Marhamati's claims, they were 'non-Iranian.' Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior, also confirmed this claim. These attacks occurred following the IRGC's missile and drone attack on Pakistani territory. The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department condemned the recent missile attacks by the IRGC on Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan under the pretext of 'fighting terrorism' as a violation of the sovereign borders of these three countries.