Knife attacker killed outside Iran ambassador's Vienna residence

A 26-year-old Austrian was shot dead outside the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna after he attacked a guard with a knife on Sunday night, police said.

One guard suffered a cut to the upper arm during the attack at about 23:35 local on Sunday and has been sent to hospital, police said.

A police spokesman told AFP news agency that the attacker, a 26-year-old Austrian, "died on the spot".

The motive for the attack is not yet clear.

A spokesman for Vienna city police, Harald Soeroes, said the soldier had attempted to defend himself with pepper spray and a struggle had taken place between the two men.

At least four shots had been fired.

According to early indications he "acted within the rules", said a spokesman from the ministry of defence quoted by the APA agency.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, said Ambassador Ebadollah Molaei was unharmed.

Police have ordered reinforcements around all diplomatic missions in the city.

The attack comes days after an unrelated string of knife attacks last week, in which a 23-year-old Afghan national admitted to a series of knife attacks in the city which left four people seriously injured.