Baku, Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan warned it was preparing response measures after it said two Iranian drones crossed its border into the Nakhchivan exclave and injured four people. Iran denied targeting Nakhchivan.
Azerbaijani statements and planned measures
“These attacks will not remain unanswered,” the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said it was investigating the types of drones used and “preparing the necessary response measures to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country and to ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure”.
Iran denies targeting Nakhchivan
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied that Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan. “We do not attack our neighbouring countries,” he told Azerbaijani outlet AnewZ.
Diplomatic protest and call for clarification
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry demanded that Iran “clarify the matter in the shortest possible time, provide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future”, adding that the incident “contributes to increased tensions in the region”. The ministry said it handed a note of protest to the Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Locations of the drone incidents and injuries
Azerbaijan said one drone fell on the terminal building of the Nakhchivan International Airport, about 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Iran, and another landed close to a school building in a nearby village. The Health Ministry in the landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan bordering Armenia, Iran and Turkey told Reuters that four injured people were taken to hospital and were in stable condition.
Broader context
Azerbaijan and Iran have tense relations over Baku’s growing economic, energy and military ties to NATO member Turkey and Israel, and Azerbaijan said the escalating U.S.–Iran war risks sparking violence between the neighbours.
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