Tehran strongly condemns armed attack on Azerbaijani Embassy

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Jan 19:55
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Tehran Police chief said that an interrogation established that the attack was motivated by personal and family problems.

A police officer knocks on the door of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023 (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, strongly condemns the armed assault on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran on Friday that resulted in one death and two injuries.

An armed man broke into the Azerbaijani embassy with his two children earlier in the day and opened fire as soon as he entered. Interviews revealed that the attack was motivated by "personal and family problems," according to Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi.

In a statement, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned an armed action at the entrance of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran, which claimed one life.

The spokesman sent heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the Azerbaijani government and people as well as to the family of the deceased embassy employee noting that "Iranian security and law enforcement forces intervened quickly and arrested the attacker, who is currently being investigated."

Kanaani emphasized that the case is being investigated as a "priority and with high sensitivity" following the directives of special political and security authorities.

The attacker, according to reports by the Iranian news agency Tasnim, stated that he was attempting to return his wife, who had applied to the Azerbaijani embassy back in April 2022 but had never returned home.

The man repeatedly reported complaints to the embassy but never got a response regarding his wife's whereabouts. He, therefore, assumed that his wife was at the embassy and was trying to avoid him. According to the news agency, the attacker carried out the attack on Friday morning after purchasing a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Kanaani urged the media to refrain from speculation, citing preliminary investigations that show personal motivations were behind the attack.