Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday condemned an Iranian drone strike on the country’s exclave of Nakhchivan, calling it a “terrorist act” and warning that Azerbaijan would respond.
On Thursday, at around 11 a.m. local time, two drones coming from the direction of Iran struck the Azerbaijani exclave. One hit the terminal of Nakhchivan International Airport. The second crashed near a school in the village of Shakarabad. Two civilians were wounded, and children were evacuated from nearby schools.
Aliyev addressed the incident shortly afterward, describing it as a “terrorist act” and saying Azerbaijan would not leave the attack without a response.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued an immediate condemnation. “We strongly condemn the drone attacks carried out from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ministry said, adding that Baku “reserves the right to take appropriate response measures.” Iran’s ambassador in Baku was summoned and handed a formal protest, the ministry said.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Iran “bears full responsibility for the incident” and that the army is preparing measures “to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.” The statement said the actions “will not go unanswered.”
Images of debris published from the scene have raised questions that Azerbaijan’s security establishment is now examining. Experts said an initial review of fragments from one of the drones showed markings in Cyrillic script, a finding that could point to a Russian connection or the use of components originating there. Azerbaijani authorities have not made a final determination about the drones’ identity, and the inquiry is continuing.
The strike came after repeated Azerbaijani efforts to signal restraint. In January, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told his Iranian counterpart that Azerbaijan would never allow its territory or airspace to be used by any country for military operations against Iran or any other state. A diplomatic source in Baku familiar with the discussions said the same message was also conveyed to Israeli officials. On March 1, a day after the current round of hostilities began, Bayramov reiterated the position to Tehran.
Iranian officials push narrative justifying Azerbaijan attacks
A Baku-based security analyst said Iranian officials have continued to promote a narrative that Israel used Azerbaijani territory for attacks, a claim Azerbaijan has denied. “They are looking for justification and recycling a claim that has no basis,” the analyst said, arguing that pressure inside Iran is now translating into additional targets in the region.
Nakhchivan is seen in Baku and Washington as a key link in the Zangezur Corridor, a proposed trade route intended to connect Azerbaijan and Central Asia with Europe while reducing reliance on routes that pass through Russia and Iran. In Tehran, the project is viewed as a strategic challenge, and the strike on the exclave is being interpreted in that context.
Iran is also home to a large ethnic Azerbaijani population estimated in the tens of millions, and the relationship between Tehran and Azerbaijani identity has long carried political and cultural sensitivities.
Baku also points to Azerbaijan’s distinctive standing in the Muslim world when it comes to Jewish communal life. Estimates put the country’s Jewish population at about 30,000. Krasnaya Sloboda, near the northern city of Quba, is sometimes referred to as the “Jerusalem of the Caucasus” and is regarded as a prominent Jewish settlement in the region. Officials in Baku say an attack on Azerbaijan is also an attack on a Muslim-majority country with close ties to Israel and a long-standing relationship with its Jewish community.
Azerbaijan’s military is not the region’s largest, but it gained combat experience in the Karabakh wars and is equipped with advanced weaponry, including systems from Israel and Turkey. Analysts note that a strike on Azerbaijan is, in effect, a challenge to Turkey, its close ally and a NATO member.
With Iran simultaneously confronting the United States and Israel, opening another front against Baku and Ankara could further complicate Tehran’s strategic position.