Iranian president condoles with Azerbaijani leader over embassy attack

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi extended condolences Saturday to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, for a deadly attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran.

Aliyev strongly condemned the "bloody terrorist act" in a telephone call with Raisi and hoped the act will be thoroughly investigated, the Azerbaijani presidency said in a statement. He said the criminals will be punished.

The call came one day after a gunman, wielding a Kalashnikov rifle, barged inside the Azerbaijani Embassy premises and opened fire.

Orkhan Asgarov, head of the embassy's security services, was killed, while two security guards at the entrance were injured.

Tehran's police chief Hossein Rahimi told reporters that the assailant was immediately arrested, adding that a preliminary investigation pointed to "personal and family-related problems" as a motive.

Aliyev said if the terrorist had not been disarmed, he would have targeted other employees of the embassy and their family members living in the apartment section of the embassy building.

He also emphasized the importance of ensuring the security of diplomatic missions, according to the statement.