Bahram Ghasemi said the knife attacker who injured a guard outside Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna on Sunday night was reportedly a 26-year-old Austrian national, whose identity and motive for the attack are as of yet unknown.
“We are in contact with Austrian authorities in Tehran and Vienna, and hope that the Austrian police and security officials will soon reach a conclusion on the investigations that they opened on the case since last night,” Ghasemi said, hoping that future reports would reveal more detailed information on the identity of the attacker and his motive.
He noted his contact with the Iranian ambassador to Vienna, adding “no damage has been done to the residence of the Iranian envoy, but reports indicate that the soldier standing guard at the residential area has been injured and is now receiving treatment in hospital.”
Ghasemi also referred to some speculations that the assailant, who was shot dead “on the spot”, was a foreigner with an Austrian nationality, saying “we have called on the Austrian government to follow up on the case as soon as possible and pay closer attention to the safety of Iran’s diplomatic missions in this country.”
MS/4249700