Opinion | Why Pakistan's Khamenei Protests Expose Deep Security And Sectarian Faultlines

Managing domestic unrest while balancing these competing relationships is likely to remain a major challenge for Pakistan, as regional tensions continue to escalate

The assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint strikes carried out by the United States (US) and Israel triggered widespread unrest across Pakistan on March 1. The protests exposed the country’s fragile internal security environment and the complexity of its diplomatic balancing between competing regional and global actors.

Protests erupted in several major cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta, as well as in the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Demonstrations were driven largely by religious solidarity with Iran and strong anti-Western sentiment. Many rallies quickly escalated into violent confrontations with security forces (SFs) and attacks on diplomatic facilities, particularly those associated with the US.

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The most serious violence occurred in........

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