Iran denies its drones hit airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave as war widens | Conflict News

Azeri President Alliyev seeks Iran’s apology for the drone attack in Nakhchivan, but Tehran denies role in the incident.

President Ilham Alliyev of Azerbaijan has sought Iran’s apology after a drone attack targeted the autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, opening yet another front in the ongoing war launched by the United States and Israel and the retaliation from Tehran.

Alliyev on Thursday said those responsible must be held accountable after Nakhchivan was “subjected to cowardly fire”. Two people were injured in Thursday’s drone attack in the exclave, which borders Iran and Turkiye.

“The Azerbaijani state strongly condemns this ugly terrorist act, and those who committed it must be immediately held accountable,” Alliyev said in a post on the presidential website.

Earlier, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the incident occurred about noon (08:00 GMT) on Thursday.

“One drone struck the terminal building of the airport in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shakarabad,” the ministry said.

“We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

It added that the attack injured two civilians and caused damage at the airport.

The ministry demanded “a clear explanation” from Iran and said the country “reserves the right to take appropriate response measures”.

It summoned Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou over the incident.

Turkiye, which is closely allied with Azerbaijan, also released a statement “strongly” condemning the strike and warned against spreading the conflict to third countries. “Turkiye will continue to stand by Azerbaijan in the future, as it has always done,” it said.

“We emphasise once again the need to stop attacks targeting third countries in the region and carrying the risk of spreading the war.”

Iran denies role

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied that Iran had targeted Azerbaijan.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has not targeted the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Gharibabadi said in comments carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency. “We do not target our neighbouring countries.”

“Iran’s policy is only to strike the military bases of its enemies” that are active in the region and those bases that are used to attack Iran, including those of the US and Israel, he added.

Nakhchivan was part of a US-brokered peace deal signed last year between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A land corridor called the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” gave the US development rights for the proposed route connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and creating a passage between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Iran has long opposed the planned transit route, also known as the Zangezur corridor, fearing it would cut the country off from Armenia and the rest of the Caucasus while bringing potentially hostile foreign forces close to its borders.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said: “Iran has long been accusing the Azeri government of turning Azerbaijan into an Israeli spy base.”

“They are accusing Aliyev of undermining Iran’s security from its northern border,” Serdar added. “Iran said multiple times that if Azerbaijan did not stop, it would be punished.”

Serdar said Thursday’s drone strikes were sending a clear message to the Azeri government. “Iran is engaging in a conflict with neighbouring countries,” he said, adding, “the Gulf, Turkiye and now Azerbaijan”.

Expanding war

More Iranian drones are reported to have targeted countries across the region, including a US military base near Baghdad’s international airport in Iraq.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said its air defence systems intercepted a missile attack as multiple explosions were heard in the skies above Doha.

“Our Armed Forces successfully intercepted (13) missiles while the last one fell in the territorial waters of [the] State of Qatar,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that four “drones were intercepted successfully without any human casualities”.

The Saudi Ministry of Defence said the latest drone sent into its airspace was shot down near the al-Jawf region while the Oman Oil Marketing Company said one of its storage tanks was damaged.

On Wednesday, Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said a ⁠ballistic missile fired from ⁠Iran towards Turkish airspace was destroyed ⁠by NATO air defence systems over ‌the eastern Mediterranean after ⁠passing over Syria and Iraq.

Iran’s ⁠armed forces issued a statement on Thursday denying having fired ⁠any missiles towards Turkish territory.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country was “taking all the necessary precautions” in consultation with its NATO allies and was issuing “warnings in the clearest terms to prevent similar incidents from happening again”.

In the meantime, the Israel-Hezbollah front in Lebanon has been reignited in another chapter of war involving heavy Israeli bombardment and incursions into its northern neighbour.