– Azerbaijan reopened its embassy in Tehran on Monday after over a year of negotiations between Iran and Azerbaijan to ease tensions.
– Relations between the two countries soured in January 2023 after a gunman stormed Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran, killing the security chief and wounding two guards.
– Iran said it was a personal dispute but Azerbaijan called it a terrorist attack. Azerbaijan also accused Iran of supporting Islamists trying to overthrow its government, which Iran denied.
– In response, Azerbaijan and Iran expelled some of each other’s diplomats in 2023. Azerbaijan’s decision to open an embassy in Israel, Iran’s arch enemy, also contributed to deteriorating ties.
– Azerbaijan borders Iran’s northwest and was historically part of Persia. There is also a large ethnic Azeri minority in Iran.
– The reopening of the embassy signals an improvement in relations under Iran’s new president, as the countries’ leaders had pushed to improve ties before the former president’s death in May 2024.
Source: AP
