Azerbaijan says drones from Iran damage airport, school building
2026-03-05 - 13:33
BAKU — Azerbaijan on Thursday said that its Nakhchivan exclave was hit by drones launched from Iranian territory. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the attacks occurred around midday, with one drone striking the terminal building of Nakhchivan International Airport, while another fell near a school building in the village of Shakarabad.The attackes damaged the airport and wounded two civilians, the statement added. A source close to the Azerbaijani government told Reuters a fire had started as a result of the incident.Video footage shared by the source showed black smoke rising near the airport and damage to the skylight inside the terminal building. Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry lodged an official protest with the Iranian embassy on Thursday after a pair of Iranian drones flew across the border into Azerbaijan and injured two people at an airport in the Nakhchivan exclave. “This attack on the territory of Azerbaijan contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to increased tensions in the region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “We demand that the Islamic Republic of 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.”Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mojtaba Demirchilou has been summoned to the foreign ministry to receive a formal note of protest, Baku said. “Azerbaijan reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures,” it added.Separately, Azerbaijan's defense ministry also condemned the attacks, and said that Iran "bears full responsibility for the incident." "The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan is preparing the necessary response measures to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and these acts of aggression will not go unanswered," it added.Tehran has not yet commented on the issue. Iran has long expressed concern that Israel — a close ally of Azerbaijan and a key arms supplier — could use Azerbaijani territory to stage attacks. Last June, Azerbaijan reassured Iran that it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against Tehran after Israel launched a large-scale strike on Iranian targets. Tehran has historically been wary of separatist sentiment among its ethnic Azerbaijani minority, which makes up around 10 million of Iran’s 83 million citizens. — Agencies