Most people passed through the border crossing with bulky luggage, while cargo trucks formed a long line.
Pakistanis cross the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 3, 2026, amid continued US and Israeli attacks on Iran. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistanis dragged suitcases across the border from Iran, describing missile launches and travel chaos as they rushed to leave the country that the United States and Israel targeted with strikes over the weekend.
AFP Journalists saw a steady stream of people passing through large metal gates at the remote border crossing between Iran’s Mirjaveh and Taftan in Balochistan.
Powerful explosions have rocked Iran’s capital, Tehran, since Saturday, and embassies of countries around the world have asked their citizens to leave.
“All our Pakistani brothers who were in Tehran and other cities had started leaving and were arriving at the terminal, which caused a lot of pressure from the crowd,” said shopkeeper Ameer Muhammad, 38. AFP on Mondays.
“Due to the crowding, there were big transportation problems.”
Read more: Pakistan seeks to reduce US-Iran tensions through active diplomacy, Dar tells Senate
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said at a news conference on Tuesday that Pakistan has three consulates working in Iran to offer support to the country’s 35,000 citizens.
Nearly 800 had returned to Pakistan in recent days, he told reporters in Islamabad.
‘Many missiles’
The isolated border of Taftan is located about 500 kilometers from Quetta.
AFP Journalists saw the Iranian flag flying at half-mast as soldiers stood guard.
Most people passed through the border crossing with bulky luggage, while cargo trucks formed a long line.
Pakistanis cross the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 3, 2026, amid continued US and Israeli attacks on Iran. PHOTO: AFP
Irshad Ahmed, a 49-year-old traveler, said he was staying in a hostel in Tehran when he saw missiles fired nearby.
“There was a military base near the hostel and we saw a lot of missiles fired,” he said.
“After that, we went to the Pakistani embassy so they could evacuate us from there. They brought us here safely.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assistance in an operation between the United States and Israel was a “violation” of international law.
“It is an ancient convention that heads of state and government should not be attacked,” he wrote in X.
The Government and people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their time of grief and sadness and express their sincere condolences on the martyrdom of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali.
Khamenei.Pakistan also expresses concern over violation of…
– Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) March 1, 2026
The “people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their time of pain and sadness and express their deepest condolences for the martyrdom” of Khamenei, he added.
A professor at the Pakistani embassy in Tehran, who identified himself as Saqib, said AFP: “Before we left, the situation was normal. The situation was not that bad.”
The 38-year-old said Saturday’s attacks in Tehran “forced us to leave the city.”
“The situation worsened on Saturday night when the attacks led to the loss of precious lives,” he said.
