A guard is killed and two injured by a person with an assault rifle, the Azerbaijani overseas ministry says.
A guard has been killed in an assault on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran, the nation’s Ministry of International Affairs says, including that it’s going to evacuate its diplomatic workers.
“The attacker broke via the guard publish, killing the pinnacle of safety with a Kalashnikov assault rifle,” it stated.
Friday’s assault in Tehran additionally injured two guards, the Azerbaijani ministry stated. An investigation has been launched.
President Ilham Aliyev known as the assault on his nation’s embassy a “terrorist act” and demanded a swift investigation.
“We demand that this terrorist act be investigated and the terrorist be punished,” Aliyev stated in assertion. He added that an assault towards a diplomatic mission was “unacceptable.”
The incident comes amid months-long tensions between the neighbouring nations.
In a strongly worded assertion, the Azerbaijani ministry stated a latest “anti-Azerbaijan marketing campaign” in Iran had inspired the gunman. It additionally accused authorities in Tehran of lengthy ignoring Baku’s calls to bolster safety at its embassy.
“Sadly, the most recent bloody terrorist act demonstrates the intense penalties of the failure to provide the mandatory consideration to our fixed appeals on this regard,” it stated.
Iranian overseas ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani “strongly condemned” the assault, in line with state TV, saying the difficulty was beneath investigation with “excessive precedence and sensitivity.”
Police in Tehran stated they’ve arrested a suspect and are investigating the gunman’s motive.
There have been no indications from statements from Iranian officers that the assault was politically motivated.
The suspect entered the embassy with two kids and will have been pushed by “private points”, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim information company reported, citing the police chief.
Nonetheless, surveillance footage shared by the Iranian state-owned information outlet Press TV confirmed what seemed to be the gunman getting into the embassy alone and firing contained in the constructing earlier than struggling with one man who tried to cease him.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan information company quoted Iranian prosecutor Mohammad Shahriari as saying the gunman’s spouse had disappeared in April after a go to to the embassy. Shahriari added the person believed his spouse was nonetheless within the embassy on the time of the assault.
Turkey, which has shut ties with Azerbaijan, condemned the “treacherous assault” and known as for the perpetrators to be dropped at justice. “Azerbaijan isn’t alone,” Turkish International Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated on Twitter.
Relations between Baku and Tehran have historically been bitter as Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan is an in depth ally of Turkey, Iran’s historic rival.
Iran, dwelling to tens of millions of ethnic Azerbaijanis, has lengthy accused Baku of fomenting separatist sentiments within the nation.
Iran can be suspicious of Azerbaijan’s army cooperation with Israel, an arms provider to Baku, saying Israel might probably use Azerbaijani territory as a bridgehead towards Iran.
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