ISLAMABAD: In response to overnight Israeli strikes on Iran, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately establish a crisis management cell to ensure the safety of Pakistani citizens and pilgrims currently in Iran.
The Foreign Office said in a statement on Friday that it has activated the crisis unit to coordinate emergency measures for the protection and possible repatriation of Pakistani nationals, especially pilgrims, as tensions remain high in the region.
The prime minister instructed that all available resources be mobilised to safeguard Pakistani citizens and assist in their safe return, stressing that the Foreign Office and Pakistan’s embassy in Tehran must remain on high alert until the situation normalises.
The Foreign Office said the Pakistani embassy in Tehran has been tasked with providing full support and services to nationals in Iran.
The embassy has also issued an emergency hotline number to assist Pakistanis in need of help.
Israel launched airstrikes on Iran Friday, killing Iran’s several top commanders and six nuclear scientists.
Israel claimed to have targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders to prevent Tehran from developing an atomic weapon.
At least 20 senior Iranian commanders, including the head of the revolutionary guards, Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran on Friday, two regional sources told Reuters.
HOSSEIN SALAMI
Salami was commander-in-chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Salami, who was born in 1960, as head of the IRGC in 2019.
MOHAMMAD BAGHERI
A former IRGC commander, Major General Bagheri was chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces from 2016. Born in 1960, Bagheri joined the Guards during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
AMIR ALI HAJIZADEH
Hajizadeh was the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Force. Israel has identified him as the central figure responsible for directing aerial attacks against its territory. In 2020, Hajizadeh took responsibility for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which occurred shortly after Iran launched missile strikes on US targets in Iraq in retaliation for the US drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani.
GHOLAMALI RASHID
Major General Rashid was head of the IRGC’s Khatam al Anbia headquarters. He previously served as deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, and fought for Iran during the 1980s war with Iraq.
FEREYDOUN ABBASI-DAVANI
Abbasi, a nuclear scientist, served as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013. A hardliner, Abbasi was a member of parliament from 2020 to 2024.
MOHAMMAD MEHDI TEHRANCHI
Tehranchi, a nuclear scientist, was head of Iran’s Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
Four other scientists killed in Friday’s strikes are Abdolhamid Manouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feghi and Motalibizadeh.