{"id":6142,"date":"2026-03-06T06:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T06:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/6142\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T06:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T06:11:08","slug":"azerbaijan-accuses-neighbor-iran-of-a-drone-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/6142\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan accuses neighbor Iran of a drone attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) \u2014 Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians, and it vowed to retaliate as the war in the Middle East<\/a> reached into another country.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan<\/a> and damaged an airport building.<\/p>\n

President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out \u201ca groundless act of terror and aggression,\u201d and said his military has been told to prepare and implement retaliatory measures. The Caspian Sea nation halted truck traffic across the nearly 700-kilometer (over 400-mile) border with Iran. <\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s general staff of the armed forces denied it had launched a drone toward Azerbaijan\u2019s territory. Iran has repeatedly denied targeting oil infrastructure and other civilian targets in the war, despite its drone and missile fire hitting those sites.<\/p>\n

The incident highlighted Azerbaijan\u2019s complicated relationship with neighboring Iran, at a time when Baku also has developed military and economic ties with Israel.<\/a><\/p>\n

Iran has grown increasingly concerned about the U.S. and Israel potentially leveraging the Islamic Republic\u2019s various minority ethnic groups to destabilize the country as it comes under attack. Iran has a large Azeri population and Tehran has accused Baku of allowing Israeli intelligence to operate from there. Azerbaijan, in turn, has sought to give assurances that its territory won\u2019t be used for an attack on \u201cneighborly and friendly\u201d Iran.<\/p>\n

Drones crash in Nakhchivan<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s Foreign Ministry said an Iranian drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan, and another one hit near a school. The Defense Ministry said four drones were fired by Iran toward Nakhchivan, and while one was disabled by Azerbaijani forces, the others targeted civilian facilities \u2014 including a school where classes were underway.<\/p>\n

It was unclear if it was deliberate or an accident.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Prosecutor General\u2019s office said four people were injured.<\/p>\n

Nakhchivan is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a swath of Armenia about 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide. Nakhchivan accounts for about 6% of the country\u2019s territory, bordering Azerbaijan\u2019s close ally Turkey and Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not tolerate this groundless act of terror and aggression committed against Azerbaijan,\u201d Aliyev said at a meeting of his country\u2019s Security Council in remarks carried by the Azertac news agency. \u201cIranian officials must provide an explanation to the Azerbaijani side, an apology must be offered, and those who committed this terrorist act must be held criminally liable.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Azerbaijan\u2019s military has been instructed \u201cto prepare and implement retaliatory measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Defense Ministry vowed that Iran\u2019s \u201cattacks will not go unanswered,\u201d adding it was preparing the \u201cnecessary response\u201d to protect \u201cthe territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure.\u201d It didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n

Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan \u201cis not participating in operations against Iran -\u2013 neither previously nor this time -\u2013 and will not do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe have neither interest in conducting any operations against neighboring countries, nor does our policy allow it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foreign Ministry said Iran\u2019s \u201cactions contradict the norms and principles of international law and contribute to increased tension in the region,\u201d and summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest.<\/p>\n

Baku demanded that Iran \u201cprovide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Aliyev to condemn the Iranian drone attack and express support. The Turkish Foreign Ministry urged a halt to strikes that target \u201cthird countries in the region and increase the risk of the war spreading.\u201d<\/p>\n

A complicated relationship<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan in recent years has developed ties with Israel and the United States, with Iran\u2019s influence in the South Caucasus region diminishing. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Aliyev and other top officials at the White House last year<\/a> for a three-way summit with Armenia.<\/p>\n

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between the countries, which included an agreement to create a transit corridor to the Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia to be called the \u201cTrump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed corridor \u201cremains a thorn in the Tehran\u2019s side, which could partially explain\u201d the attack on the exclave, said Mario Bikarski, senior Eastern Europe and Central Asia analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. <\/p>\n

Without the U.S.-financed corridor, the main overland route to Nakhchivan and Turkey from the main part of Azerbaijan is through Iran, which gives Tehran leverage, Bikarski said. If the corridor materializes, Iran\u2019s regional influence would be weakened because the route would facilitate Baku\u2019s normalized trade and diplomatic relations with Turkey and Armenia, and \u201copen up the South Caucasus to increased U.S. presence,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Aliyev also met Trump last month at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He later hosted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Azerbaijan and met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n

Bikarski said tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan have somewhat decreased since 2024 following the election of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,<\/a> who has an Azeri father and a Kurdish mother. Still, Azerbaijan\u2019s close ties with Israel makes it \u201ca plausible target of hostile Iranian actions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan had offered condolences on Khamenei\u2019s death<\/p>\n

In recent days, however, Baku appeared to try to assuage any concerns Iran might have over its ties with Israel and its possible role in the war, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel unleashed a series of strikes and killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

Aliyev was among world leaders who sent a message of condolence over Khamenei\u2019s killing to Pezeshkian. On Wednesday, Aliyev visited the Iranian Embassy in Baku to offer his condolences personally to Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Azerbaijan\u2019s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi and expressed \u201cserious concern over the tragic escalation of the situation in the region.\u201d He also said he hoped for \u201cthe prompt cessation of military actions\u201d and stressed that Azerbaijan\u2019s territory \u201ccannot be used by any country against neighboring and friendly Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bikarski said in his written comments that it is unclear whether the drones \u201cwere sent deliberately, but given one of the areas hit was a regional airport, it is likely that Azerbaijan was indeed deliberately targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAzerbaijan\u2019s close ties with Israel means it a plausible target of hostile Iranian actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) \u2014 Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[211,327,288,3984,38,1402,687,197,3983,34,61,196,3987,1096,3985,3990,3620,768,1401,3986,3988,3989,545,200,82],"class_list":["post-6142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-abbas-araghchi","tag-ali-khamenei","tag-azerbaijan","tag-azerbaijan-government","tag-donald-trump","tag-drone-surveillance-and-warfare","tag-drones","tag-general-news","tag-ilham-aliyev","tag-iran","tag-iran-government","tag-iran-war","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-jd-vance","tag-jon-gambrell","tag-mario-bikarski","tag-masoud-pezeshkian","tag-military-and-defense","tag-military-technology","tag-nikol-pashinian","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-suzan-fraser","tag-terrorism","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116180751874313439","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}