Iran is opposed to Azerbaijan’s independence on a strategic level Brenda Shaffer looks at the wider context of the Embassy attack

In an interview with Caliber.Az, Professor Brenda Shaffer, Senior Foreign Policy Analyst and Professor at the US Naval Postgraduate School gave her informed view on the recent lethal attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran, reflecting on the wider context and developments immediately preceding the assault.

Defining Iran as an actor operating on multiple levels, the American scholar referred to Tehran’s modus operandi of negotiating on one side and employing terrorist methods on the other in its dealings with Western nations.

In Professor Shaffer’s view, the inflammatory rhetoric employed by Iran before the assault may have contributed to the tragic event and Tehran’s attempts to shape the narrative with alleged ‘family context’ raise infinite doubts as to its true intentions.

The policy analyst believes that Azerbaijan is perfectly justified in being protective of its ethnic brethren living in Iran and that there is no guarantee that the Islamic Republic will be able to maintain national integrity in the long run.