Azerbaijan Reopens Embassy in Iran After More than a Year
After a more than year-long pause, Azerbaijan has resumed regular operations at its embassy in Iran, according to Iranian government-aligned media and sources within the Azeri consulate on Monday.
An Azeri news agency first reported the unofficial announcement, directly citing the country’s foreign ministry, claiming that the two parties had reached an agreement after negotiations. However, the Azeri source stated that an official confirmation of the move awaits an announcement from the Iranian government.
Relations between the two countries frayed significantly after an Iranian gunman opened fire on the Azeri embassy in January 2023. Azerbaijan would go on to expel four Iranian diplomats from Iran’s diplomatic mission in Baku, leading Iran to respond in kind.
The attack claimed the life of the embassy’s security chief and injured two guards.
Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, called the assault a terrorist attack and blamed Iran’s hardline Islamic government for stoking jihadist terrorism.
Iran, conversely, said the attack was the result of a personal dispute and that the gunman opened fire in response to his wife allegedly disappearing at the embassy months prior.
While there is a large population of ethnic Azeris living within Iran’s borders, there have been significant tensions between the two countries for years, especially in the wake of Azerbaijan’s decision to build an embassy in Israel, one of Iran’s regional rivals.
