TEHRAN – Iran has reacted to remarks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev regarding the recent attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran, urging Baku to avoid politicizing the attack.

In a statement on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the Republic of Azerbaijan had better avoid making prejudgments, politicizing the issue, or spreading propaganda about the attack, according to Tasnim.

“Offering non-legal interpretations on the incident to the public media is not a constructive measure in the course of pursuing the case legally and judicially,” Kanaani stated.

As mentioned by the Iranian officials several times, the case is going through legal processes, the spokesman added, stating that what has been publicized in this regard is based on the explicit confession made by the assailant.

“Naturally, all dimensions of this bitter incident are being investigated and studied accurately and expertly,” he said.

“As expressed in the diplomatic messages and contacts between the senior political and judicial officials of the two countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to provide the Azeri side with the results of investigations. We are confident that the Republic of Azerbaijan’s officials will receive the necessary answers to all ambiguities and questions in their mind in the atmosphere of cooperation and with the adoption of constructive approaches,” Kanaani concluded.

Aliyev has once again levelled accusations on Iran in connection with the recent attack on the South Caucasus country’s embassy in Tehran which resulted in the death of the security head of the diplomatic mission. 

The Azerbaijani president spoke to reporters after a trilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Trend News reported. 

Responding to a question on the prospects for normalization of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, Aliyev said, “You heard about the terror act against our embassy, which was the organized act of terror against the Azerbaijani diplomatic premises. During 30-40 minutes the terrorist was not disarmed, and the police cars coming and going, security officers allowed him to break in twice and kill one security officer and injured two others. And only bravery of one of security officers, who with empty hands disarmed that terrorist, saved lives of maybe of dozens of Azerbaijanis. Because they were the families of the diplomats, including children live in that building. Therefore, we demand immediate and transparent investigation. And the fact that right after this act of terror, the terrorist was interviewed by Iranian media demonstrates that he is one of those who was sent by some of the branches of the Iranian establishment.”

He added, “And another strange thing was that just two days after, he was announced as mentally disabled. How could they hold this expertise immediately? That is an attempt to protect him from justice. Therefore, the Iranian government should have a transparent investigation. We must be informed about that, the terrorist must be punished, but most important, those who sent the terrorist those representatives of the Iranian establishment, who did this brutal act against Azerbaijan must be brought to justice. Only after that, we can talk about any kind of normalization.”

The remarks come amid differences of opinion between Iran and Azerbaijan about the motives behind the attack. Iran said the assailant was driven by his personal affairs and thus the attack was not an act of terrorism. On the other hand, Azerbaijan continues to brand the attack as terrorism. 

In mid-February, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the prosecutor-general of Iran, discussed the attack on the embassy in a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Kamran Aliyev.

A gunman armed with an AK-47 assault rifle stormed the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran in late January, killing an Azeri national and injuring two others.