Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Iran "pushed 4,000-5,000 Pakistanis" in Balochistan despite Islamabad's request to wait until a quarantine facility was developed.

"They are Pakistanis, we cannot disown them, we had to own them," he said. "I laud the Balochistan government who did their best [to provide facilities] despite scarce resources."