SHOCKING video shows the moment a man stormed into an embassy and shot three people with an assault rifle in Iran.
Tehran authorities claimed the troubled gunman believed his wife was held inside, but furious leaders in Azerbaijan said it was a terror attack encouraged by Iran.
Leaked video footage from outside of the embassy shows two men parking a car and entering the building in Tehran.
A speeding vehicle then approaches and smashes into the back of the pair's motor.
A man can then be seen leaping out after the collision and charging toward the door with a long weapon.
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CCTV from inside the embassy then shows two men trying to block the door as the gunman rushes in.
The suspect manages to burst through before opening fire, reigning a hail of bullets on the the unsuspecting blokes.
He seemingly struck one man in the torso, who then collapsed in a nearby corridor.
Seconds later, another embassy employee runs towards him to disarm him.
The embassy's head of security, Orkhan Rizvan, died and two other men were injured.
Tehran police chief General Hossein Rahimi said the attacker, who was arrested, is an Iranian man married to an Azerbaijani woman.
He is said to have believed his wife was being held at the embassy for at least nine months.
Tasnim news agency said the assailant had filed a missing persons report for his wife in April last year.
But legal documents reportedly showed she had in fact moved back to Azerbaijan.
And a young woman identified as the man's daughter told Reuters that her mother was safe in Azerbaijan.
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She said: "My mother is not in the embassy and I told him that but he did not accept that."
Azerbaijan's foreign ministry issued a furious statement, claiming Iran was responsible for the tragedy.
Ministry spokesman Ayxan Hacizada told local media that recent anti-Azerbaijani campaigns in Iran had "encouraged the attack".
Hacizada later told Turkey's state broadcaster TRT Haber that embassy staff were "being evacuated from Iran".
An image from outside the embassy appears to show an array of bullet holes in the front door.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev condemned the incident on Twitter, describing it as an act of "terrorism".
He tweeted: "We demand that this terrorist act be swiftly investigated and the terrorists punished. Terror against diplomatic missions is unacceptable!”
Iranian state media said: "President Ebrahim Raisi immediately ordered a intensive inquiry into the case and expressed his condolences to the Azerbaijani government and nation and to the family of the dead diplomat."
Protests have erupted in capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, and the foreign ministry has summoned the Iranian ambassador to "demand justice".
Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have traditionally been sour, as Azerbaijan is a close ally of Iran's historical rival Turkey.
