TEHRAN- Azerbaijan was to withdraw embassy personnel and family members from Iran on Sunday, according to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.

The decision followed two days after a gunman stormed the embassy and killed a security officer and injured two others.  

Iranian officials denounced the attack on Friday and declared the gunman had a personal, not a political, purpose.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian suggested that foes should not be permitted to exploit the situation.

In a phone call with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday, Abdollahian underlined, “We should not allow this incident to have any detrimental influence on relations between the two nations.”

Abdollahian also stressed the attack was not an act of terrorism.

He also suggested that the security agencies of the two countries might jointly investigate the incident to shed light on the pros and cons of the incident.

“Iran, Azerbaijan will never let anyone harm bilateral relations”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that Tehran and Baku have indissoluble historical ties and would not permit others to harm such ties.

Raisi made the statements following a phone conversation with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev. 

The phone call took place a day after the deadly attack on the Republic of Azerbaijan's embassy in Tehran.

During the phone call, Raisi expressed the Iranian government’s and nation's sympathies to Aliyev.

He went on to say that the cordial and fraternal relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are founded on inseparable cultural and historical ties.

“The governments of Iran and Azerbaijan will not permit the mutual ties to be swayed by the two nations’ detractors,” Raisi stressed. 

Raisi confirmed that the relevant Iranian government agencies are looking into the many aspects of the terrible occurrence.

The Azeri president, for his part, thanked Raisi for expressing compassion and condolences to the Azeri government and people.

“This was an unexpected crime,” Aliyev said, adding, “However, the two countries' cooperation in this issue should be such that nobody would be allowed to use such incidents to disrupt the two countries' friendly relations.”