Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev considered the armed attack on his country’s embassy in Iran a terrorist attack. He demanded to investigate the incident as soon as possible and punish the culprits.
“I strongly condemn the terrorist act against our embassy in Tehran. I extend my condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. We need a prompt investigation into this terrorist attack and the punishment of the terrorists. The terrorist attacks against diplomatic missions are unacceptable,” the president wrote on Twitter. In , he also expressed his condolences to the head of the embassy’s security guard who was killed in the attack.
Armed man at the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran. As a result, an employee of the diplomatic mission was killed in the incident and two others were injured.
“On January 27, around 8:30 a.m. Baku time, an armed attack was carried out on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran. The head of the diplomatic mission’s security service was killed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, — It is said in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.
It should be noted that during the attack, two other embassy security personnel were injured. We know that their condition is satisfactory.
“Currently, an investigation is ongoing into the attack,” the country’s foreign ministry said.
At that time, SMI reported that the name of the deceased was Orkhan Askerov. According to initial information, the attacker has been arrested.
In a scathing statement, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry announced that the recent “anti-Azerbaijani campaign” was aimed at Iran. He also accused Tehran authorities of long ignoring calls for Baku to step up security at its embassy, Al-Jazeera writes.
“Unfortunately, the latest bloody act of terrorism bears witness to the grave consequences of ignoring our constant appeals in this regard,” the message read.
According to state television, the official representative of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, “strongly condemned” the attack, saying the incident is under investigation.
Tehran police say they have arrested the suspect and are investigating the motive for the shooting.
The suspect entered the embassy with two children and may have been driven by “personal problems”, the semi-official Irana Tasnim news agency reported, citing the police chief.
However, surveillance footage released by Iran’s state news agency Press TV showed that an armed criminal entered the embassy alone and opened fire inside the building, then fought. with a man who tried to arrest him.
Iran’s judiciary’s Mizan news agency quoted Iranian prosecutor Mohammad Shahriari as saying the gunman’s wife disappeared in April after visiting the embassy. Shahriari added that the man believed his wife was still at the embassy at the time of the attack.
Turkey, which has close ties with Azerbaijan, condemned the “treacherous attack” and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. “Azerbaijan is never alone,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.
Relations between Baku and Tehran have traditionally been tense, with Turkish-speaking Azerbaijan being a close ally of Turkey, Iran’s historic rival.
Iran, home to one million ethnic Azerbaijanis, has long accused Baku of stoking separatist sentiments in the country.
Iran is also wary of Azerbaijan’s military cooperation with Israel, Baku’s arms supplier, saying Israel could potentially use Azerbaijan’s territory as a springboard against Iran.
