Four Arrested In Azerbaijan For Shooting Anti-Iran Lawmaker

Azerbaijan Republic has arrested four people in connection with the attempted assassination of a lawmaker who was shot and wounded last week, an interior ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Fazil Mustafa, a lawmaker who had been strongly critical of Azerbaijan's neighbor Iran, has been recovering in hospital after what the state security service described as a terror attack.

Mustafa's assistant, Ajdar Aliyev, told Reuters the politician was feeling well and expected to return to his home under police guard.

Azerbaijani media wrote on Monday that "the involvement of the Islamic Republic in the attempt to kill Mustafa was confirmed."

“Azer Sarydzhanov is considered to be the direct organizer of the action and the shooter was identified as Shirinov Sabukhi,” reported Turan news.

Earlier, the spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the investigation and the preliminary results of the interrogations of the detainees show that the Islamic Republic was involved in the assassination.

According to Azerbaijani reports, the suspects visited Iran often and Sarijanov is a religious activist known as "Haji Azer" who posts speeches on YouTube.

Turan added that the attack was carried out upon the order of "Iranian special services" and with financial support from Tehran.

Last week, a number of Azerbaijani members of parliament also blamed the Islamic Republic for the shooting that targeted Mustafa.