Pakistan and Iran announced today, Monday, the return of their ambassadors to each other's capitals this week after tensions in relations due to deadly airstrikes.

The foreign ministries of the two countries said in a joint statement that the ambassadors will return to the embassies in Islamabad and Tehran starting Friday.

The two countries had exchanged the expulsion of ambassadors last week, having downgraded diplomatic relations after reciprocal airstrikes in each other's territories to track militants.

Iran had targeted hideouts of Sunni Islamist armed groups inside Pakistan last Tuesday, resulting in the death of two children.

Pakistan responded last Thursday by bombing hideouts in Iran of nationalist separatists, whom Islamabad holds responsible for conducting violent attacks in the past, resulting in the death of at least nine people, including children.

The intervention of international bodies such as the United Nations and China's offer to mediate helped defuse the crisis.