TEHRAN, Dec. 07 (MNA) � Iran expressed sympathy with the Republic of Azerbaijan after a fire incident in an oil platform in the Caspian Sea on Sunday. Condoling�with Azerbaijan's government, nation and bereaving families of the incident, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi�Ansari expressed readiness�in a statement�to offer any help in order to control the fire which�claimed the lives of a number of workers�in Azeri offshore oil rig.��

According to the local media, thirty-two workers have died after an offshore oil platform operated by Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR caught fire in the Caspian Sea, the head of an independent committee said on Saturday.

SOCAR said on Friday that the fire on a platform in Azerbaijan's Guneshli oil field had started after a gas pipeline on the platform was damaged in heavy wind. It said rescue attempts were�complicated by a severe storm.

By Mehr News Agency