Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran Suspends Operation After Attack According to Deputy Foreign Minister

BAKU (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran has evacuated its staff after a fatal shooting, which took place earlier this week, and suspended the diplomatic mission in Tehran, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said on Sunday.

On Friday, an armed man entered Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran along with his two young children and opened fire on entering the premises. The shooting left one person killed and two others injured. According to Tehran Police chief Hossein Rahimi, interrogation established that the attack was motivated by "personal and family problems."

"We have completely suspended the embassy's diplomatic activity. Five people are remaining there to protect the administrative building and the embassy's property. Those remaining in the embassy will not carry out diplomatic activities," Khalafov told reporters.

According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, the assailant claimed that he was trying to locate his wife, who applied to the Azerbaijani embassy back in April 2022 and never returned home.

The man reportedly lodged complaints to the embassy multiple times but never received information about the whereabouts of his wife. Therefore, he assumed that his wife was on the embassy's premises and did not want to communicate with him. For this reason, the assailant purchased a Kalashnikov assault rifle in advance and carried out the attack on Friday morning, according to the news agency.