Iranian drones hit airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave as US-Israel war widens 

An Iranian drone attack has targeted Azerbaijan’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, opening yet another front in the ongoing war launched by the United States and Israel and the retaliation from Tehran.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the incident occurred at about 12 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 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”.

It has summoned Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou over the incident.

Nakhchivan, bordering Iran and Turkiye, was part of a historic US-brokered peace deal signed last year between former deadly foes Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The land corridor, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), 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 [Azerbaijani President] Ilham 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.”

The drone attacks in Nakhchivan come amid reports of more Iranian drones targeting countries across the region, including a US military base near Baghdad 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.

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

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

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

Turkiye’s 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.