Iran executes man responsible for Azerbaijan embassy attack

DUBAI/BAKU (Reuters) -A man convicted of a fatal shooting at Azerbaijan's embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, was executed on Wednesday, Iran's judiciary news outlet Mizan said.

The January 2023 shooting, in which the Azeri embassy security chief was killed, brought relations between Tehran and Baku to a new low, with Azerbaijan branding the shooting an "act of terrorism".

Iranian judicial authorities ruled the attack was for "personal reasons," Mizan reported.

"I thought my wife was at Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran and was not willing to meet with me. I decided to go there with a Kalashnikov rifle," the defendant said during his trial, according to Mizan.

In a statement on Wednesday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said that it had expected the Iranian side to carry out the "harshest punishment" for the attack. It said the execution was witnessed by two embassy employees.

The neighbours have had tense relations, with Baku accusing Tehran of discriminating against its large ethnic Azeri minority and Iran voicing concerns regarding Azerbaijan's ties with its arch-rival Israel, as well as potential border changes following a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian travelled to Baku last month, where he said Tehran hoped to resolve all issues jointly and to strengthen bilateral relations.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom and Nailia Bagirova in Baku; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)

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