Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan International Airport has been struck by drones injuring two, with the federal government accusing Iran of finishing up the assault.
In a press release following the strike, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry mentioned they ‘strongly condemn these drone strikes from the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and the injury of two civilians.’
The ministry stated that one drone crashed into the terminal constructing of the airport, whereas one other crashed close to a faculty within the village of Shekarabad.
The ministry mentioned they’d summoned Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, and demanded an evidence for the incident.
‘The Azerbaijani side reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures’, the assertion learn.
The strike befell lower than 10 kilometres from the Iranian border within the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an Azerbaijani exclave, at round midday on Thursday.
The pro-government media outlet APA was the primary to report on the strikes, writing that ‘several more drones fell in other places’. They didn’t present any further particulars. APA’s article was accompanied with the tagline: ‘the treacherous mullah regime shows its true face’.
Footage apparently from the scene reveals plumes of black smoke rising from the airport. Additional footage shows a small blast throughout from the airport, with a number of hearth engines parked on the airport.
APA later published further footage from contained in the airport, exhibiting that the constructing’s ceiling was broken. People had been additionally seen fleeing the scene.
The strikes mark the primary time that Azerbaijan or some other nation within the South Caucasus has been drawn into the US–Israel battle with Iran, now in its sixth day.
Despite having a rocky relationship, Azerbaijan and Iran had lately reached a fragile rapprochement. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was one of many few world leaders to precise condolences to Iran over the demise of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Aliyev mentioned he was ‘deeply saddened by the tragic death’, and expressed ‘deep condolences’ to the Iranian folks over the ‘heavy loss’.
Iran has beforehand accused Azerbaijan of permitting hostile forces to make use of the nation as a staging floor, together with through the June 2025 US-Israeli bombing marketing campaign. Azerbaijan and Israel take pleasure in shut relations.
However, throughout a phone call along with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Aragchi on Saturday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov insisted that it was ‘impossible for any country to use the territory of Azerbaijan against neighbouring and friendly Iran’. Bayramov additionally ‘expressed condolences due to the killing Khamenei and innocent people because of the airstrikes’.
More to observe.
