Drones from Iran crashed and exploded in Azerbaijan today, triggering an immediate warning that the country ‘reserves the right to take retaliatory measures’.
The strikes risk widening the conflict, with one drone hitting near an airport in Nakhchivan and sparking a fire, while another came down beside a school.
The airport lies around six miles from the Iranian border. Two civilians were injured in the strikes.
Nakhchivan is the capital of a strategically sensitive Azerbaijani exclave, which is detached from the rest of the country and wedged between Iran, Armenia and Turkey.
Azerbaijan has deep security ties with Israel, including big arms purchases and intelligence cooperation, which Tehran sees as an Israeli ‘listening post’ on Iran’s northern border.
The attacks come as Iran trades missile and drone strikes with Israel and the US across the Middle East, raising fears the conflict could spread further across the region.
Images circulating on social media today also appeared to show a large explosion in the Iranian city of Sanandaj, though details of the blast were not immediately clear.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said today: ‘Around noon, drone attacks were carried out on the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Two drones from Iran today crashed and exploded in oil-rich ex-Soviet state Azerbaijan
The strikes showed the conflict widening with hits in Nakhchivan, one close to the airport, igniting a fire, and another beside a school
An explosion in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, Iran, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran
This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack
The attacks come as Iran trades missile and drone strikes with Israel and the US across the Middle East, raising fears the conflict could spread further across the region
‘One drone fell on the airport terminal building, and another one landed near a school building in the village of Shekarabad.
‘We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which damaged the airport building and injured two civilians.
‘This attack on Azerbaijani territory is contrary to the norms and principles of international law and contributes to escalating tensions in the region.
‘We demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran promptly clarify the above-mentioned issue, provide an explanation, and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
‘Azerbaijan ‘reserves the right to take retaliatory measures.’
The Iranian ambassador was summoned to face a ‘strong protest’.
Initial reports suggested the attack was by Shahid drones.
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich ex-Soviet state, was the 12th state hit by Iran, and the tenth Muslim state.
‘We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which damaged the airport building and injured two civilians.
Ironically, a day earlier, the Azerbaijan’s strongman president Ilham Aliyev had attended the Iranian embassy in the capital of Baku to pay tribute to slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.
