Iran-Pakistan flare-up rooted in borderlands

DUBAI/ISLAMABAD — An Iranian strike on Pakistan that drew a rapid military riposte and raised fears of greater regional turmoil this past week was driven by Iran's efforts to reinforce its internal security rather than the so-called ambitions for the Middle East, according to Iranian officials, insiders and analysts.

Both neighbors appear to want to try to contain the strains resulting from the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years, analysts and officials said.

Iran sent shock waves around the region on Tuesday with a missile strike against what it described as hard-line Sunni Muslim militants in southwestern Pakistan. Two days later, Pakistan in retaliation attacked what it said were separatist militants in Iran — the first airstrike on Iranian soil since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.