Russian Envoy’s Murder in Turkey Condemned

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned as "ruthless" a shooting on Monday that took the life of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, stressing that it shows the current anti-terror fight by the international community is ineffective.

Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman at an art gallery exhibition opening in Ankara, in a terrorist attack that also injured three other people.

Bahram Qasemi, in a statement published Monday night, said the murder shows that "terrorists obsessed with extremist and takfiri currents do not adhere to any international norms and rules, and take such brutal actions to create disputes between countries and deeper insecurity in the region", IRNA reported.

A takfiri is a hardliner who accuses Muslims who do not accept its extreme interpretation of Islam as apostates punishable by death.

The young assailant who killed the Russian envoy shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo" and "We will take revenge for Aleppo" when he shot him.

Aleppo, the second biggest Syrian city and most populous before the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, has been the scene of major operation by the Syrian Army and its allies to retake its eastern neighborhoods from foreign-backed militants, including members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra (recently rebranded as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham).

Iran, along with Russia, provides advisory support to the anti-terror push in Syria, while Turkey is a main backer of militants struggling to bring down the Syrian government.

Qasemi said the only remedy to stem the spread of the disgusting scourge of terrorism is "solidarity and unity among all nations and countries for a tireless and inclusive battle against terrorism [in which] double standards are avoided and terrorists and extremists are not categorized as good and bad ones".

"The Islamic Republic will stand by all nations across the region and the world, until the scourge is completely rooted out," he said.

  Closure of Consulates

The Iranian Embassy in Ankara announced that all its consulates across Turkey were to be closed on Tuesday.

"All consular services in Iranian consulates in Istanbul, Trabzon and Erzurum will be closed on Tuesday, December 20. We urge all Iranians to avoid visiting these locations," the embassy said in a statement posted on its website.

The United States' Embassy in Ankara and its consulates in Istanbul and Adana were also closed on Tuesday, after an individual approached the embassy and a shootout took place.

The incident occurred hours after the Russian ambassador's killing.

The assailant who shot the ambassador dead was killed by security force while the person who opened fire at the US Embassy was held in police custody and there were no casualty was reported.

The attack came a day before Turkish, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers scheduled a meeting in Moscow to discuss the Syrian conflict.