Azerbaijan accused Iran of failing to protect its diplomatic mission after a gunman killed the security chief at its embassy in Tehran and wounded two other guards in an attack Friday.
(Bloomberg) —
Azerbaijan accused Iran of failing to protect its diplomatic mission after a gunman killed the security chief at its embassy in Tehran and wounded two other guards in an attack Friday.
Amid growing tensions between the neighboring states, the Foreign Ministry in Baku said Iranian authorities had failed to take measures to ensure the security of the embassy despite repeated warnings by Azerbaijan. Embassy staff and their families in Tehran will be evacuated from Iran after the “terrorist attack,” the ministry said in a statement.
Iranian police detained the gunman and an initial investigation showed he acted from a “completely personal” motive, Iran’s state television reported, citing Mohammad Shahriyari, superintendent of the Tehran prosecutor’s office for criminal affairs.
The unprecedented assault on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran took place as tensions have spiraled between them over issues including Baku’s ties with Israel and its conflict with Armenia over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev condemned the attack and demanded a swift investigation in a statement on Twitter.
Iran’s “special services” were behind the attack, Azerbaijan’s pro-government news service Caliber said, citing a source it didn’t identify. CCTV footage shared by Caliber showed a gunman entering the embassy building with an automatic rifle and shooting at personnel inside before being disarmed by a security officer.
–With assistance from Patrick Sykes.
(Updating with details, quotes)
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