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The week\u2019s strikes via Iran and Pakistan on each other\u2019s territory are part of decades of tension, which have been renewed due to major events in the Middle East lately, according to The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n Per The Hill<\/a>, the two nations have had \u201ccomplicated\u201d relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.<\/p>\n The existence of terrorist groups in southeast Iran and southwest Pakistan also creates tensions and explains recent strikes between the two nations, BBC<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Pakistan announced Thursday that it had launched airstrikes against alleged terrorist hideouts inside Iran, according to The Associated Press<\/a>. The strikes, which killed nine people, followed a similar attack from Iran on Pakistan two days earlier.<\/p>\n The Iran-Pakistan border, particularly Pakistan\u2019s Balochistan province and Iran\u2019s Sistan and Baluchestan\u00a0province on both sides of the border, is a common hideout for militants, CNN<\/a> reported. Both nations have fought terrorists for a long time on the border, but Iran and Pakistan rarely attack militants on each other\u2019s soil.<\/p>\n That changed this week. \u201cInternal political pressures\u201d led to Iran and Pakistan striking each other over charges that neither is doing what\u2019s possible to keep terrorists at bay, according to AP<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Jaish-al Adl and Jundullah militant groups have bases in Pakistan and attack Iranian police and soldiers, while the Baluch Liberation Army is in Iran and has fought Pakistan for decades, The Hill<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n The airstrikes on terrorists come not long after Iran struck targets in both Iraq and Syria, according to BBC<\/a>. Iran has accused both the Islamic State and Israel\u2019s Mossad spy agency of being part of a bombing in Iran that killed 84 people. Iran said that it struck both organizations, BBC reported.<\/p>\n In addition to its own military action, Iran\u2019s proxies like Hezbollah and Yemen\u2019s Houthis continue to pursue activity, according to CNN<\/a>. Iran has much to gain from the dysfunction, per CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c… Iran\u2019s dominant position in the Middle East, in contrast to conflict-ridden nations like Yemen and Syria, means it stands to gain from regional instability and \u2018filling power vacuums.\u2019 And Iran\u2019s activities now serve to further several of its main goals, which include empowering Palestinians and counteracting American influence in the Middle East,\u201d CNN\u2019s report<\/a> read.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhy did Iran and Pakistan strike each other?<\/h3>\n
Middle East chaos and Iran<\/h3>\n