{"id":202517,"date":"2026-03-05T21:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/azerbaijan-accuses-iran-of-terrorist-drone-attack-on-airport-that-injured-four-people-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T21:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:27:16","slug":"azerbaijan-accuses-iran-of-terrorist-drone-attack-on-airport-that-injured-four-people-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/azerbaijan-accuses-iran-of-terrorist-drone-attack-on-airport-that-injured-four-people-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan accuses Iran of \u2018terrorist\u2019 drone attack on airport that injured four people – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tehran denies responsibility but strike raises prospect of US-Israel war on Iran spreading beyond Middle East
Middle East crisis \u2013 live updates<\/a>
Azerbaijan has accused Iran of a \u201cterrorist\u201d drone attack that struck an airport and injured four civilians, raising concerns the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East.
Azerbaijan\u2019s defence ministry said Iran<\/a> fired four drones at the country, one of which hit the terminal building at the only airport in Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Iran. A second drone fell close to a school in a nearby village, the ministry said.
The strike would be the first Iranian attack on a Caucasus state since the start of the US-Israel war on the country.
In a meeting with his security council, Azerbaijan\u2019s president, Ilham Aliyev, announced he had instructed the military to \u201cprepare and implement response measures.\u201d \u201cWe will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan,\u201d he said.
\u201cThe Iranian side must provide an official explanation to Azerbaijan, issue an apology and ensure that those responsible are held criminally accountable,\u201d the Azerbaijani leader said, adding that his country \u201cneither participated nor will participate in any operations against Iran this time around\u201d.
Iran has denied any connection to the drone attack on Nakhchivan airport. \u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran has not targeted the Republic of Azerbaijan,\u201d Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said in comments carried by Iran\u2019s Tasnim news agency. \u201cWe do not target our neighbouring countries.\u201d
Footage on social media<\/a> appeared to show a drone directly striking the airport before a fire broke out.
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich authoritarian nation that has adopted a neutral stance in the Middle East conflict, has recently developed closer ties with Israel and the Trump administration while gradually moving away from Moscow, the traditional power broker in the Caucasus.
The country hosts no US military bases, a sign Iran may be expanding its strikes beyond nations directly linked to accommodating American forces.
Zaur Shiriyev, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said it was still unclear whether Iran had specifically intended to strike Nakhchivan airport. But he added that, if confirmed, the attack would be a serious incident and difficult to dismiss as an accident.
\u201cAirports are critical infrastructure, so this is bound to raise serious questions,\u201d he said.
The timing of the apparent strike was notable. A day earlier, Aliyev had visited the Iranian embassy in Baku to offer condolences over the killing of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes last week<\/a>.
\u201cNo other head of state has visited any Iranian embassy,\u201d Aliyev said during his meeting with officials. \u201cNot appreciating this, downplaying it, and acting like vile and ungrateful people does not bring honour to anyone.\u201d
Baku\u2019s growing military cooperation with Israel has caused growing friction with Tehran, though the two neighbours have largely maintained pragmatic relations. Both countries are majority Shia Muslim, and Iran is home to millions of ethnic Azeris \u2013 estimates range from about 15 to more than 20 million people \u2013 many living in the north-western provinces bordering Azerbaijan.
The drone incident will raise tensions in the Caucasus regions. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have all proclaimed neutrality in the war, keen to avoid being drawn into the widening instability. Armenia and Azerbaijan, which share borders with Iran, fear the prospect of a migration crisis if the conflict escalates or the Iranian state collapses, potentially sending large numbers of refugees north across their frontiers.
Further attacks on Azerbaijan could have far-reaching consequences for global air travel, which has already been heavily disrupted by airspace closures across the Middle East. Azerbaijan\u2019s airspace has become a key corridor for flights between Asia and Europe<\/a> seeking to avoid Russian airspace, and any disruption could create fresh headaches for airlines.
Possible Iranian targets in Azerbaijan could include the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries crude that accounts for about 30-40% of Israel\u2019s oil imports.
Azerbaijan\u2019s threats to retaliate against Iran could also Turkey in a difficult position. Ankara maintains longstanding diplomatic and trade relations with Tehran, but it is also bound by close strategic and military ties with Baku. Under mutual defence agreements between the two countries, Turkey has pledged to provide assistance \u2013 including military support \u2013 if Azerbaijan is subjected to armed aggression.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tehran denies responsibility but strike raises prospect of US-Israel war on Iran spreading beyond Middle EastMiddle East crisis \u2013 live updatesAzerbaijan has accused Iran of a \u201cterrorist\u201d drone attack that struck an airport and injured four civilians, raising concerns the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East.Azerbaijan\u2019s defence ministry said Iran fired four drones at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-202517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}