Ex-Envoy Describes Azerbaijan’s Move on Wife of Embassy Assailant as Human Trafficking

 Former Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pak Ayeen denounced the illegal action by the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran in helping the wife of the Baku embassy assailant to run away from Iran, and said that Tehran reserves right to sue Baku over “human trafficking” charges.

Pak Ayeen has waded in the tensions over the fatal attack on Baku’s Embassy in Tehran in January.

The Embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic is responsible for human trafficking as it helped the wife of the assailant to exit Iran illegally, he wrote on Twitter.

“The passport of the assailant of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran, Golnar Ali Yava, has been in the hands of her husband. She exited Iran without the husband’s consent in April 2022,” the former envoy continued.

“Legally speaking, this move is an example of human trafficking by a diplomatic institution and is prosecutable by domestic and international courts,” the ex-ambassador added.

A gunman attacked the Azerbaijan Embassy in Iran in late January, killing a security guard and wounding two more. Police in Tehran announced they have arrested the assailant. The attacker has claimed that his wife visited Azerbaijan’s embassy in April 2022 and never returned, leaving him frustrated.

Following the incident, Tehran’s Police Chief Hossein Rahimi stated a preliminary investigation pointed to “family problems” as the motive behind the fatal shooting, but Azerbaijani officials called it a “terrorist act”.

Iranian officials have stressed that the enemies of the two countries should not be allowed to take advantage of the incident which Tehran announced was not an act of terrorism. They urged Azerbaijani officials to refrain from prejudgments and politicization of the deadly raid and avoid making a decision out of emotion following the raid.

In spite of Iran’s every effort to clear the air, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev ordered the evacuation of the embassy, and noted that normalization of relations between the two countries depends on a transparent investigation that will bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.