According to a recent Reuters report, published on 19 June, Pakistani General Asim Munir told the U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting in Washington that occupied Balochistan on both the Iranian and Pakistani sides would become a problem if Iran were to collapse. This framing is not only misleading but deeply dishonest.

The Americans should not heed to this unscrupulous general. Balochistan is not the problem, it is the solution and the key to regional stability. The real sources of instability in the region are the Iranian and Pakistani Islamic republics, both of which have long histories of fueling extremism and suppressing occupied nations through violence and state-sponsored terrorism.

Iran has exported terrorism through proxies like the Houthis in Yemen, Assad regime, Iraqi militias and Hezbollah in Lebanon, undermining neighboring countries and threatening regional peace. Pakistan has followed a similar pattern, cultivating terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed to conduct attacks in Kashmir in India, and using various factions to wage a bloody civil war in Afghanistan for decades.

These are not isolated incidents but a well planned policy of using extremism and militancy as tools of foreign policy. Americans and the West should not forget that the core of the problem is Pakistan because it exported nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Moreover, both Iran and Pakistan have repeatedly engaged in nuclear brinkmanship, Iran with its uranium proliferation and Pakistan with nuclear arsenals, have been using it for political leverage to secure cushy financial aid, international concessions, and legitimacy for their authoritarian regimes.

Their strategy of exporting terrorism and threatening regional powers, including their neighbours, Israel and India. This has only entrenched their rule on the occupied nations like Baloch, Pashtuns, Kurds, Al Ahwaz Arabs, Azeri Turks and others.

In contrast, the Baloch struggle is not rooted in extremism but in a legitimate movement for dignity, justice, and freedom. If the world seeks true peace and tranquility in the Middle East and South Asia, it must stop viewing Balochistan through the lens of Pakistani or Iranian propaganda. The time has come to recognise, who the real threats are and who are the potential partners for peace and stability. Independent Balochistan is the need of the hour. #FreeBalochistan

~ Hyrbyair Marri, Baloch pro-independence leader

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