Police say a man has been shot dead outside the Iranian ambassador's residence in the Austrian capital, Vienna, after he attacked a guard with a knife.
Police spokesman Harald Soeros told AFP early on March 12 that the 26-year-old assailant "died on the spot" after being shot by the guard, who was in a sentry box outside the building.
The guard suffered a wound to his upper arm in the attack, which took place just before midnight in a residential area of the capital.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known.
The spokesman said the guard initially used pepper spray before opening fire on the assailant.
This is the second incident involving an Iranian diplomatic building in Europe in four days.
On Friday March 9, four men armed with batons and daggers entered the Iranian embassy in London and replaced the Iranian flag with the flag of a group called Khoddam al-Mahdi (Servants of Mahdi).
The group is thought to be affiliated with followers of Grand Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi who is a high-ranking cleric and his son Hossein who was arrested on Tuesday March 6 in Qom. The Shirazis oppose Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the idea of Velayat-e Faqih, which is the underlying principle of Khamenei’s regime and the institution of “Supreme Leader”.
A spokesman from the Defense Ministry said early indications are that the guard “acted within the rules."
The ambassador's residence is located in the Villa Blaimschein, a building that was confiscated from its Jewish owners by the Nazis during World War II.
Security has been heightened at all diplomatic missions in the city, police said.
