The Foreign Office has denied a British press report that Pakistan blames Iran for fuelling a growing insurgency in Balochistan. The Sunday Telegraph cites senior government officials as saying that Iran is encouraging "intruders" from within its own Baloch community to cross the 550-mile border with the Pakistani province and give support to the rebels. "All this violence is a part of a greater conspiracy," a senior Pakistani government official was quoted as saying. "These militants would not be challenging the government so openly without the backup of a foreign hand."Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said the report had "no credibility". He said Pakistan was investigating the disturbances in Balochistan, but did not point a finger at another country. "Pakistan and Iran can talk to each other directly," he said, adding they did not have to speak through the media. He said there was no misunderstanding or misperception between the two countries and they were able to develop effective coordination to police the border areas. According to the Sunday Telegraph report, a Pakistani intelligence agency set up a unit in Quetta last year to monitor suspected Iranian activity in Balochistan. Officials told the paper that in addition to directly supporting the insurgency, Tehran's state-controlled radio had launched a "propaganda campaign" against Islamabad. "Radio Tehran broadcasts between 90 and 100 minutes of programmes every day which carry propaganda against the Pakistan government," a former interior minister was quoted as saying. He added that Iran was suspected of providing financial, logistical and moral backing for the insurgency.
Earlier this month, rebel tribesmen disrupted gas production in a series of rocket and mortar attacks, which killed eight people. "However, Islamabad is delaying a formal complaint to Tehran in the hope that private diplomatic channels may prove more effective," the report says. Ansari writes that Pakistani officials believe that Tehran has stepped up its activity in Balochistan because of its anger at the construction of a vast deep-water port at Gwadar, close to the border, which it fears could be used by Washington as a base for monitoring and infiltrating Iran.