Azeri authorities confirm the drone attack in Nakhchivan and demand the right to an “adequate response.”
Published March 5, 2026
An Iranian drone attack targeted the autonomous enclave of Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan, opening another front in the ongoing war launched by the United States and Israel and retaliation by Tehran.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the incident occurred around noon (0800 GMT) on Thursday.
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“One drone hit the airport terminal building in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, while another landed near a school building in the town of Shakarabad,” the ministry said.
“We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He added that the attack injured two civilians and caused material damage at the airport.
The ministry demanded “a clear explanation” from Iran and said the country “reserves the right to take appropriate response measures.”
He has summoned Iranian ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou over the incident.
Nakhchivan, which borders Iran and Turkiye, was part of a historic US-brokered peace deal signed last year between former mortal enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The land corridor, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), granted the United States development rights for the proposed route connecting Azerbaijan to its enclave of Nakhchivan 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 isolate the country from Armenia and the rest of the Caucasus while bringing potentially hostile foreign forces closer to its borders.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said: “Iran has long accused the Azeri government of turning Azerbaijan into an Israeli spy base.”
“They are accusing (Azerbaijani President) Ilham Aliyev of undermining Iran’s security from its northern border,” Serdar added. “Iran said several 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 immersed in a conflict with neighboring countries,” he said, adding: “the Gulf, Turkiye and now Azerbaijan.”
Expanding war
The drone strikes in Nakhchivan come amid reports that more Iranian drones are targeting countries across the region, including a US military base near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.
Qatar’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted a missile attack as multiple explosions were heard in the skies over Doha.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said the last drone sent to its territory was shot down near the al-Jawf region, while the Oman Oil Marketing Company said one of its storage tanks was damaged.
Earlier, Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday that a ballistic missile fired from Iran into Turkish airspace was destroyed by NATO air and missile defense systems over the eastern Mediterranean after passing over Syria and Iraq.
Iran’s armed forces issued a statement Thursday denying that it had fired missiles into Turkish territory.
Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country was “taking all necessary precautions” in consultation with its NATO allies and was issuing “warnings in the clearest terms to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
Meanwhile, the Israel-Hezbollah front in Lebanon has reignited in another chapter of war involving intense Israeli bombing and raids on its northern neighbor.
