News / Politics

Azerbaijan bent on straining ties with Iran by politicizing embassy incident

Wednesday, 01 February 2023 7:41 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 01 February 2023 7:41 PM ]

Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran.

In the wake of Friday's shooting incident at Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran, a series of hostile measures taken by Baku have led to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Iran's government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, said "judicial and diplomatic measures" have been taken over the incident.

The shooting incident took place on Friday morning when an armed man entered the embassy premises and opened fire at the staff.

The police chief of Tehran, after the incident, said the assailant was immediately arrested and added that the investigation pointed to "personal and family-related problems" as the motive of the attack.

Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday said the incident will not be allowed to strain ties between the two countries.

He also proposed cooperation between the security agencies of Iran and Azerbaijan to "shed light on various aspects of the attack".

Despite that, Azerbaijan evacuated its staff from the embassy in a surprise move on Sunday and also issued a travel advisory for Iran.

Azerbaijan's foreign ministry in a statement on Wednesday alleged that Iran tried to "prevent" the country's push for international organizations to condemn what it called a "terrorist attack".

In a separate development, Azerbaijani media said on Wednesday that at least 39 people had been arrested for alleged participation in "sabotage activities and promotion of pro-Iran propaganda".

This is after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a Twitter post demanded an investigation into what he called a "terrorist act".

Bahadori-Jahromi in his remarks on Wednesday said Iran's diplomatic missions in Europe have come under a spate of attacks in recent months amid riots in Iran, but nobody raised questions about the security of diplomatic missions there.

He particularly mentioned an armed attack against Iran's ambassador to Denmark in October.

Earlier this week, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Azerbaijan against any "emotional decisions" that might have long-term consequences for bilateral ties.

Qalibaf said such measures will please the enemies of the Muslim world, especially the Israeli regime.

A prosecutor in Tehran told media persons after the incident that the armed assailant claimed his wife, an Azerbaijani citizen, went to the Azerbaijani embassy in April last year and did not return. He believed she was inside the embassy.

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