Iran sentences Azerbaijani embassy attacker to death

Yasin Hussein-zade, who committed the terror attack at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran on January 27, 2023, was sentenced to death, the website of the Iranian Justice Ministry reports.

On January 27, 2024, the first court hearing into the criminal case of the embassy attacker was held with the participation of the accused and his lawyers along with several diplomats of the Azerbaijani consulate general in Tabriz, APA reports.

At the outset of the hearing, the judge gave an explanation to the accused and the representative of the prosecutor’s office read out the indictment.

Under the published indictment, the embassy assailant was accused of premeditated murder of a citizen of the Azerbaijani Republic by using a firearm inside the embassy, possessing and carrying illegal weapons and disrupting public order.

After the prosecutor read out the indictment, the accused and his lawyer made a defence speech.

The attacker smashed the security post with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and killed the head of the security service, Orkhan Asgarov. Two security officers of the embassy - Vasif Taghiyev and Mahir Imanov were wounded while preventing the attack.

Following the terror attack, the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran suspended its operation, and the embassy staff was evacuated to Baku on January 29, 2023.

Some 53 people in total, consisting of the employees of the embassy and their family members, returned to Azerbaijan.