Four of five Iranian border guards seized by militants along the Iran-Pakistan border two months ago have been released. The captors claimed to have executed one of the hostages. The released four have been handed over to Iranian officials. It was not immediately clear how they had been released. The Pakistan government had repeatedly said there was no evidence the Iranian guards were on its territory. The Iranian government accused Pakistan of not doing enough to free the men and of supporting the rebels who had abducted them. The abductions on February 6 caused a strain in relations between Iran and Pakistan, and the Iranians had threatened to send troops into Pakistani territory to rescue the captives. The border area between Pakistan and Iran is a hotbed of Sunni militant resistance to Iran’s Shiite authorities. Iran executed 16 Sunni insurgents in retaliation for an attack by armed men who allegedly crossed the border from Pakistan and killed 14 Iranian border guards near the city of Saravan last November. That attack and the kidnapping of five border guards was claimed by Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), a Sunni Muslim rebel group operating in predominantly Shia Muslim Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province, which borders Pakistan. In a related development, the Iranian parliament has approved on Sunday the Tehran-Islamabad Enhanced Security Cooperation Act. The law is intended to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in combating terrorist groups operating in the border areas. In February 2013, Iran and Pakistan agreed to cooperate in preventing and combating organized crime, fighting terrorism and countering activities that pose a threat to the national security of either country. One of the world’s most difficult to police borders stretches between Iran and Pakistan. The illegal movement of smuggled goods and people is one law and order problem of long standing along this border. Another is the Iranian Baloch rebellion. The Baloch in Pakistan have been engaged in a low-intensity insurgency for decades, while those of Iran have become increasingly restive in recent years. In 2003, Iranian Baloch militants formed an organization called Jundullah (Soldiers of God), dedicated to fighting on behalf of Sunni Muslims against the Shia regime of Iran. Iran has long classified Jundullah as a terrorist group; in October 2010 the United States agreed, adding the organization to its official list of foreign terrorist organizations. Iranian Baloch resentment at their treatment in overwhelmingly Shia Iran is an old problem. Insurgency has been stoked over the years by Tehran’s inability to come to terms with the desire for autonomy and rights by the Iranian Baloch. However the internal dynamic of the Iranian Baloch problem plays out, it in Pakistan’s interest to maintain close, friendly relations with Iran and indeed with all its neighbours. Pakistani soil should not, either deliberately or through neglect, be allowed to be used for fomenting conflict in Iran or any other adjoining country. *