One person killed in armed attack on Azerbaijan embassy in Iran | News

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Azerbaijani foreign ministry say a guard has been killed in the attack.

A guard has been killed in an armed attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

“The attacker broke through the guard post, killing the head of security with a Kalashnikov assault rifle,” it said.

Friday’s attack has also injured two guards, the ministry added. An investigation has been launched.

Police in Tehran said they have arrested a suspect and are investigating the motive behind the attack.

The suspect entered the embassy with two young children and may have been motivated by “personal issues”, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the police chief.

However, surveillance footage shared by Iranian state-owned news outlet Press TV on social media showed what appeared to be the gunman entering the embassy alone and firing shots inside the building, before scuffling with one man who tries to stop him.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu condemned the “treacherous attack” on Twitter. “Azerbaijan is never alone,” he said, sending his condolences to the relatives of the victim and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

Iran, home to millions of ethnic Azerbaijanis, has long accused Baku of fomenting separatist sentiments in its territory.

Relations between Baku and Tehran have been traditionally sour, as Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan is a close ally of Iran’s historical rival Turkey.

Iran is also suspicious of Azerbaijan’s military cooperation with Israel – a major arms supplier to Baku – saying Tel Aviv could potentially use Azerbaijani territory as a bridgehead against Iran.