The territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, separated from the main territory of Azerbaijan by the territories of other states, was attacked by Iranian drones several days ago. On March 5, one of the Iranian drones was destroyed by the Azerbaijani air defense system, another fell on the territory of the Nakhchivan airport, and one more crashed near a secondary school. Human casualties were avoided, but four people were injured.
The very fact of such an incident caused serious indignation from official Baku. Since the beginning of the current conflict, Azerbaijan has maintained a strictly neutral position, refraining from steps that could be perceived by Tehran as unfriendly. Moreover, Baku expressed readiness to provide the Iranian side with free assistance in evacuating its diplomats from Lebanon, as well as to send humanitarian aid to the conflict-affected areas of Iran. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev became one of the few heads of state to personally visit the Iranian embassy to express condolences over the death of Ali Khamenei.
Against this background, the drone attack on the territory of Nakhchivan, which occurred the day after the Azerbaijani president's visit to the Iranian embassy, looked particularly defiant. Earlier, Azerbaijan opened its land border with Iran for the evacuation of foreign citizens leaving the conflict zone. A similar humanitarian corridor functioned during last year's escalation as well. More than one and a half thousand foreign citizens have already been able to leave the combat zone and cross into the territory of Azerbaijan, from where they were given the opportunity to travel to their homelands in safe conditions.
The situation changed abruptly after drones launched from Iranian territory attacked Azerbaijan. The incident immediately received a harsh political assessment from Baku. The country's armed forces were put on full combat alert. The reaction of the international community followed almost immediately: solidarity with Azerbaijan was expressed by many international organizations and high-ranking officials from more than fifty states. This indicates that what happened is perceived by many countries as a potentially dangerous precedent capable of expanding the geography of military confrontation around Iran.
President Ilham Aliyev's tough reaction to the Iranian drone attack on Azerbaijani territory became an unambiguous signal. Baku does not intend to tolerate threats to its security. The strike on civilian objects was not only a dangerous military provocation but was also delivered despite the restrained position Azerbaijan holds regarding the armed confrontation between Iran, Israel, and the USA. Baku has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijani territory will not be used against any neighboring state. President Ilham Aliyev strongly condemned the terrorist act, stating that those responsible must be immediately held accountable, and Iranian officials must provide explanations and an apology.
This is far from the first case of provocation by Iran against Azerbaijan. On January 27, 2023, an armed attack took place on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran. An armed criminal, breaking through the security post, killed the head of the diplomatic mission's security service and wounded two other security staff. At that time, Baku reacted extremely harshly: the Azerbaijani embassy was evacuated from Iran, and diplomatic relations were effectively suspended. The Iranian side was forced to apologize and admit responsibility for the incident. The perpetrator of the terrorist act was given the most severe punishment.
In response to the incident in Nakhchivan, the government of Azerbaijan decided to temporarily suspend all cargo movement through all border checkpoints on the Azerbaijani-Iranian state border. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, for its part, announced the preparation of necessary retaliatory measures to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country. The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan reported that instructions were given for the evacuation of both the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran and the consulate general in Tabriz.
The essence of what happened shows that the attack on Azerbaijani territory can be viewed not as an accidental incident, but as an element of a purposeful strategy demonstrating Tehran's bad faith. In confirmation of this, one can cite long-standing biased narratives and even attempts at threats against Azerbaijan spread by Telegram channels close to the Iranian regime.
The drone attack on Nakhchivan airport was in the nature of a carefully planned military provocation. The Iranian regime perfectly understands that air communication is currently effectively the only line of connection between the main territory of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Disabling this strategic facility could create a serious vulnerability for Azerbaijan. Such actions only confirm that, while declaring respect for neighbors and principles of Islamic solidarity, Tehran in practice often resorts to methods of political pressure and threats.
On March 8, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, called the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Masoud Pezeshkian, who is of Azerbaijani descent, thanked Ilham Aliyev for visiting the Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan and expressed condolences over the death of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and many civilians, as well as for the intention to provide humanitarian aid to Iran. At the same time, he stated that the incident with the shelling of Nakhchivan has no relation to Iran, emphasizing that what happened will be thoroughly investigated.
On March 9, 2026, the entry and exit of all types of vehicles carrying cargo across the state border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran was resumed. Movement had been temporarily suspended on March 6.
It should be noted that about 9 million Azerbaijanis live in Azerbaijan, making up about 90% of the country's population. More than 20 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, which is approximately 25% of the population. Persians are the state-forming people and make up about 55% of the country's population. From a historical perspective, one can say that Azerbaijanis in Iran have effectively become a second state-forming people. Starting from 1501, the Azerbaijani dynasty of Shah Ismail I ruled in Iran, remaining in power until 1722. It was during the reign of this dynasty that Iran reached its greatest territorial expansion.
Official Tehran denies Iran's involvement in the attack on Nakhchivan. This resembles Moscow's actions in the first weeks of the attack on Ukraine, when the Kremlin claimed that Ukrainian cities were allegedly being shelled not by Russian troops, but by certain "Ukrainian radicals" in an attempt to attract Western attention. These statements were quickly debunked. Similarly, today Iran claims that the attack on Nakhchivan could have been carried out by a third party, hinting at Israel. However, Israel is an ally of Azerbaijan, so Baku does not perceive such claims as convincing.
Similar doubts are expressed by other states in the region. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it has no relation to the attacks on Turkey and Cyprus. However, it was over Turkish territory that two Iranian ballistic missiles were intercepted, and over Cyprus - several Iranian drones. While theoretically drones could have been launched from Lebanon by representatives of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group, ballistic missiles could be exclusively at the disposal of the Iranian military. In this regard, official Ankara issued a serious warning to Tehran.
The probability of the internationalization of the military conflict between Israel and the USA on one side and Iran on the other is becoming increasingly evident. Although at first glance the expansion of the anti-Iranian coalition is not in Tehran's interest, attempts to pressure the populations of other countries to provoke protests against a war with Iran cannot be ruled out. The destruction caused by Iranian drones and ballistic missiles often proves to be extremely painful for civilian infrastructure.
Washington's plans, which assumed that democratic forces within Iran would rise up against the regime after the start of Israeli-American airstrikes, have not yet materialized. Expectations that many peoples of Iran - such as the Balochs, Lurs, and especially Kurds - would stand for independence from Tehran have also not been met. It should be taken into account that the country's population is united not only by state institutions but also by the religious factor - the Shia form of Islam. Furthermore, many of these peoples are ethnically close to Persians, and those who do not have such proximity, in the vast majority, also practice Shiism, like the bulk of the population of multi-ethnic Iran.