MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran will not have a significant impact on relations between Baku and Tehran, as both sides will try to limit the negative impact of the situation, according to experts interviewed by TASS.
Senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Sazhin drew attention to the fact that relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have recently been rather complicated in many aspects, but he believes that there will not be "significant changes in relations between the two countries" due to the incident.
According to Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, all parties are interested in minimizing the negativity created by the attack. "I believe that all sides will now try their hardest to minimize the bad impact of this issue," he said.
Sazhin also called attention to the fact that Iran has 85 mln inhabitants, with estimates for ethnic Azerbaijanis ranging from 18 to 30 mln. However, he believes that the Azerbaijani community will not protest in this situation. "I don't think this episode will impact Iran's internal political position or foreign political relations," the analyst concluded.
At the same time, Kortunov stated that anti-Iranian elements around the world may try to exploit any opportunity to destabilize stability in Iran, including the embassy attack. "However, I still believe it will be tough to use this incident," he added.
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said on Friday that the country’s embassy in Tehran had come under armed attack, killing a security officer and wounding two more. Azerbaijan demanded a thorough investigation of the incident and that those involved be punished.
Meanwhile, Tasnim news agency reported, citing the Tehran police chief, that the attacker had been detained and the IRNA news agency said, citing a spokesman for the Tehran prosecutor’s office, that the assailant told investigators he had not heard from his wife since April 2022, when she visited the Azerbaijani embassy and said the motive for the attack stemmed from the lack of any response from the embassy to his inquiries about his Baku-born wife.
According to IRNA, the man filed a missing persons report with the police in mid-April 2022 but the case was closed after police found out that the woman had returned to Azerbaijan. After that, the man contacted Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry and embassy.