Beijing on Thursday said it is ready to mediate between Pakistan and Iran after firing against terrorist positions in the border area, including the Tehran attack that killed at least seven civilians.

“The Chinese side sincerely hopes that both sides will exercise calm and restraint and avoid escalating tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference.

“If both sides wish, we are ready to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation,” he said.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighboring Iran are both battling fierce insurgencies in their sparsely populated border areas.

Also read: China urges Iran, Pakistan to ‘exercise restraint’ after deadly airstrike

On Thursday, Pakistan said it struck terrorist targets in Iran.

Tehran said it had summoned the Pakistani charge d’affaires in response to the attack, which killed at least seven people.

Both countries are close partners of Beijing and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Mao reiterated that Iran and Pakistan were “China’s friendly countries and countries with important influence”.