A gunman stormed the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran on Friday, killing the head of security for the diplomatic mission, Iranian officials said.
The attacker, armed with a Kalashnikov-type rifle, also wounded two embassy security guards before being arrested.
Tehran’s police chief, General Hossein Rahimi, attributed the attack to “personal and family problems”, according to Iranian state television cited by the US agency AP, but the incident occurred after months of tension between the two neighboring countries.
Home to millions of Azerbaijanis, Iran has long accused neighboring Iran of fomenting separatist sentiment on its soil.
Relations between Baku and Tehran have traditionally been tense, as Turkish-speaking Azerbaijan is a close ally of Turkey, Iran’s historical rival.
Tehran also fears that the territory of Azerbaijan could be used for a possible offensive against Iran by Israel, Baku’s main arms supplier, according to the French agency AFP.
In October, Iran began a military exercise near the border with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the attack a terrorist act and demanded that the perpetrator be punished.
“A terrorist attack against diplomatic missions is unacceptable,” Aliyev said in a statement.
The Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the evacuation of the embassy in Tehran after the attack, which it considered treacherous.
“We strongly condemn this violent terrorist attack against the Azerbaijan embassy in Iran,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE.
“Adequate measures are planned to evacuate the Azerbaijani embassy staff and their families,” it added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani also condemned the attack, saying Tehran authorities had ordered the incident to be investigated with “high priority and sensitivity”.
Turkey, which has close ties to Azerbaijan, condemned the attack, calling for its perpetrator to be brought to justice and for the Iranian authorities to take measures to prevent further such incidents.
Ankara has supported Azerbaijan against Armenia in the dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“Turkey, which has been the target of similar attacks in the past, deeply shares the pain of the Azerbaijani people,” Turkish diplomacy said in a statement cited by AP.
“Brother Azerbaijan is not alone. Our support for Azerbaijan will continue without interruption, as it has always done,” the Turkish ministry added.
Source: TSF
