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Russia Says it Hopes Azerbaijan and Iran Resolve ‘Frictions’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2023. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2023. (Reuters)
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Russia Says it Hopes Azerbaijan and Iran Resolve ‘Frictions’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2023. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2023. (Reuters)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that he hoped what he called "frictions" between Azerbaijan and Iran would soon be resolved.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, have been strained in recent months after Baku announced plans to open formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

Azerbaijan's State Security Service said on Wednesday that it was investigating "a terror attack" after a lawmaker with strong anti-Iranian views was wounded in a gun attack at his home.

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South Korea Says Its Military Fired Warning Shots After North Korean Soldiers Crossed the Border 

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
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South Korea Says Its Military Fired Warning Shots After North Korean Soldiers Crossed the Border 

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)

South Korea's military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals' tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said.

South Korea's military said in a statement that about 10 North Korean soldiers returned to the North after South Korea made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots. It said the North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m.

South Korea's military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities.

Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas' heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year, it didn't escalate into a major source of tensions as South Korean officials assessed the soldiers didn't deliberately commit the border intrusion.

The motive for Tuesday's border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasn't immediately clear.

Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, US President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trump's remarks and says US hostilities against it have deepened since Trump's inauguration.

South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law.