Iran condemns mosque attack in Pak, says attack aimed at sowing discord

Iran strongly condemned a Friday attack on a mosque in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar that killed dozens, according to the Foreign Ministry website.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said the attack was aimed at sowing discord, the official news agency of Iran reported.

The Iranian spokesperson also expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the "inhuman and brutal" attack and wished the wounded a quick recovery.

Khatibzadeh also hoped that the Pakistani government would prevent such criminal acts by taking required measures and making decisive moves.

On Friday, an explosion at a Shia mosque in Peshawar had claimed the lives of 56 people and injured nearly 200. City officials termed the incident a suicide attack and said that two attackers were involved in the incident.

A Pakistani journalist on Friday condemned the Peshawar suicide blast, saying that the local media is silent on the religious identity of the explosion that claimed the lives of more than 50 people.

Dozens of people from the Shia community have been targeted in sectarian violence. However, the persecution of Shias in Pakistan is not a new phenomenon.

In recent years, Pakistan has seen an unprecedented rise in attacks and arrests of its Shia population, who make up 15 to 20 per cent of the population in the country.

"The bombed mosque in Peshawar was a Shia mosque. But the local media is silent on the religious identity when it should focus on why Shias are being killed in Pakistan and expose how anti-Shia policies of the Pakistan Army have led to this slow #ShiaGenocide in the country," Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui tweeted.