A gunman stormed Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran on Friday, killing the head of the mission, Iran says the attack was motivated by personal reasons, but Baku calls it “terrorism”. Called “act of terrorism”.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said “responsibility” for the shooting, which also injured two embassy security guards, rests with Iran – Azerbaijan’s spokesman Hakizadeh told media in his country that recent anti-Azerbaijani violence in Iran The campaign “encouraged the attack”.
Hakizadeh later told Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber that the embassy staff was “being pulled out of Iran”.
Leaked video footage from the embassy, widely shared on social media and published by Iranian media, shows two men parking a car and entering the building in eastern Tehran. before a speeding car rammed into the back of his car.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) January 27, 2023
A man with what appears to be a semi-automatic rifle is seen getting out of another car and pointing it at a security guard before forcing his way into the embassy.
Another unverified video, apparently filmed inside the embassy, shows two men entering and one of them opening the door in response to commotion outside, allowing a gunman to enter the building and open fire. can
One man appeared to have been shot in the torso and collapsed behind an inner door while the attacker was tackled by another guard.
JEE News photo shows bullet holes in the front door of the embassy.
After the attack, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said the diplomatic mission’s security chief was killed and two guards were wounded but in “satisfactory” condition, adding that an investigation had been launched.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Twitter that the attack was an act of “terror” and identified the dead security officer as First Lieutenant Orkhan Rizvan.
‘personal goal’
Tehran’s police chief, General Hossein Rahimi, said the attacker had been arrested and was an Iranian man married to an Azerbaijani woman.
“He claims that his wife has been held in the embassy for nine months,” Rahimi said on television.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Tehran strongly condemned the attack, adding that the motivations behind it were “personal”.
In a joint statement, Iran’s foreign and interior ministries also insisted that “based on evidence and preliminary observations, the attacker fired with a highly personal motive”.
Initial Iranian media reports said the gunman had entered the embassy with his two young children, but they were not seen in videos shared online.
Another video posted on social media showed the body of a man lying in a pool of blood inside the embassy surrounded by medical and security personnel.
A paramedic in Azeri was heard saying the man had “no vital signs”. Iran is home to millions of Turkic-speaking, ethnic Azerbaijanis and has long accused Baku of stoking separatist sentiment within its territory.
Relations between the two countries have traditionally been bitter, with the former Soviet republic of Iran’s historical rival and close ally Turkey.
Tehran also fears that Azerbaijan’s territory could be used by Israel, which supplies weapons to Baku, for a possible attack against Iran.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was shocked by Friday’s attack.
“We offer our condolences and cooperation with our Azerbaijani colleagues,” he wrote in a telegram.
