Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev ordered his armed forces to prepare appropriate retaliatory measures after accusing Iran of drone strikes on the Nakhchivan exclave. Azerbaijani authorities reported that four Iranian drones violated its borders on Thursday, wounding four people. Iran denied responsibility and said it would investigate.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has ordered his armed forces to prepare appropriate retaliatory measures after accusing Iran of an 'unjustified act of terrorism and aggression' through drone strikes on the Nakhchivan exclave. Speaking to his Security Council, Aliyev stated: 'We are ready to show our strength against any hostile force, and they must not forget this in Iran.' The incident wounded four people, who were hospitalized in stable condition, according to the Nakhchivan Ministry of Health as reported to Reuters.
The strikes occurred on Thursday, with authorities stating one drone hit the passenger terminal at Nakhchivan International Airport, about 10 kilometers from the Iranian border, while another landed near a school in a nearby village. The military shot down a third drone, and a fourth struck unspecified civilian infrastructure. Reuters-verified video footage showed black smoke rising near the airport and damage to a roof window inside the terminal building.
In response, Azerbaijan closed its southern airspace for 12 hours and shut border crossings with Iran to all cargo trucks, including transit shipments, severing one of the shortest land routes linking Iran to its ally Russia. Since U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran began last Saturday, more than 1,100 people have crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan via the Astara crossing on the Caspian Sea, a source close to the Baku government told Reuters.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Abadi denied Tehran targeted the area, telling the Azerbaijani news agency Anews: 'We do not attack neighbouring countries,' and added that Tehran would investigate. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov condemned the attack in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, calling it a violation of international law that contributes to 'escalating tension' in the region.
The incident comes amid strained relations between the two nations, as Baku strengthens economic, energy, and military ties with Israel and NATO member Turkey, against the backdrop of escalating U.S.-Iran conflict that heightens risks of violence between Azerbaijan and its neighbor, home to a large ethnic Azerbaijani community. Azerbaijan is a major oil and gas producer, exporting most of its energy to Turkey and Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, with officials noting that any damage to this infrastructure could impact global energy prices.
