The National Security Ministry said on Monday it had arrested several members of a Wahhabi Islamist group that had planned to attack the U.S. Embassy in the ex-Soviet state's capital, Baku.
Following the arrests, the American and British embassies closed down over security concerns.
"The government and security bodies are controlling the situation in the country, and neither diplomatic missions, nor Azerbaijani nationals, face any security threat," Khalaf Khalafov said.
United States Embassy official Mekhti Guseinguliyev said the embassy remained closed on Tuesday, along with the Consulate General. A decision has not yet been reached on when the embassy will reopen, he said.
The Foreign Ministry said the plotters were tracked down on Saturday during an operation in the village of Mstaga, some 20 miles northeast of Baku. One member of the group put up armed resistance and was killed.
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich state on the Caspian Sea located between Russia, Iran, and Turkey, has no previous history of Islamist violence. A British consulate in neighboring Turkey was hit by a terrorist bombing four years ago. Al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attacks against the consulate and HSBC bank headquarters in Istanbul, which killed 57 civilians.
