ALBAWABA - Azerbaijan began evacuating employees from its embassy in Iran, two days after an armed attack on the diplomatic mission.
On Friday, an armed assailant attacked the embassy, killing a security guard and wounding two others. Azerbaijan said at the time that it would evacuate its embassy staff.
The evacuation is in contrast with what Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told his Azerbaijani counterpart following the attack. The Iranian stressed that bilateral relations should not be affected because of the attack.
Despite official statements that the gunman, who had a Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifle, carried out the attack for some personal, not political reasons, the incident is expected to raise tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran.
Azerbaijan held Iran responsible for the attack, which it described as terrorist, especially amid its unimplemented demands from Tehran to tighten security and deploy more guards around the premises of the embassy of Azerbaijan.
Iranian police announced earlier that a suspect, whom is believed to be responsible of the attack, was nabbed.
Relations between the two neighbors have traditionally been tense as a result of disputes over the border areas between them, and the rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which is a historical opponent of Iran.
