KARACHI: Authorities in Balochistan have increased vigilance on Pakistan’s border with Iran, a government official said on Saturday, following reports of a spike in coronavirus cases in the neighboring country.
The Iran–Pakistan border is around 1,000 kilometers long and demarcates Pakistan's Balochistan province from Iran's Sistan and Balochistan, which Iranian health authorities have now classified as "red" — the highest category on Iran's coronavirus risk scale.
On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed fears that Iran will be hit by a fifth wave of COVID-19 due to an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.
While the Iranian side earlier this week closed its Pakistan border due to rising COVID-19 cases in Zahedan, a frontier town that is the capital of Sistan and Balochistan, it has not been sealed from the Pakistani side.
"Decision to close the border rest with federal government, but Balochistan government has increased vigilance," Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani told Arab News.
He added that authorities were ensuring that every individual entering Pakistan through the Taftan crossing with Iran was screened at the border and had tested negative for the coronavirus.
Pakistan completely closed its border with Iran on Feb. 24, 2020 after a coronavirus outbreak in the neighboring country that month. However, the Taftan border was reopened in June last year, followed by the reopening of all five border crossing points for trade.
