Iran says it executed man convicted of deadly January 2023 attack on Azerbaijani embassy

Iran says it executed a man convicted of a deadly January 2023 attack on the Azerbaijani embassy, which sparked a sharp downturn in relations between the neighboring countries.

“The law of retribution was implemented this morning against the attacker of the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran,” the judiciary says.

An Azerbaijani diplomat was killed and two security guards wounded when the armed assailant penetrated the embassy compound in what Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev condemned as a “terrorist attack.”

Baku shut its embassy in Tehran and both countries then ordered expulsions of the other’s diplomats.

Tehran said the attacker acted on “personal grievances” but Baku charged that Tehran had “encouraged the attack.”

Relations between the two governments have been strained for years, largely due to Azerbaijan’s close ties with Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.

Tehran has long expressed concerns that Azerbaijani territory could be used by Israel, a major arms supplier to Baku, to stage a potential attack on Iran.

Iran has also been strongly opposed to the so-called Zangezur corridor linking Azerbaijan to Turkey which would run along Iran’s border with Armenia.

The execution comes after President Masoud Pezeshkian made a rare visit to Baku late last month amid signs of a thaw in relations.

The two countries also held joint military exercises in November and earlier this month.

Azerbaijan reopened its embassy in mid-2024 after the court sentenced the attacker to death.