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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 5 Mar 20265 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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An Iranian drone attack has targeted Azerbaijan\u2019s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, opening yet another front in the ongoing war launched by the United States and Israel<\/a> and the retaliation from Tehran.<\/p>\n Azerbaijan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the incident occurred at about 12 noon (08:00 GMT) on Thursday.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cOne 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,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n It added that the attack injured two civilians and caused material damage at the airport.<\/p>\n The ministry demanded \u201ca clear explanation\u201d from Iran and said the country \u201creserves the right to take appropriate response measures\u201d.<\/p>\n It has summoned Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou over the incident.<\/p>\n Nakhchivan, bordering Iran and Turkiye, was part of a historic US-brokered peace deal<\/a> signed last year between former deadly foes Armenia and Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n The land corridor, dubbed the \u201cTrump Route for International Peace and Prosperity\u201d (TRIPP), gave the US development rights for the proposed route connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and creating a passage\u00a0between Armenia and Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n Iran has\u00a0long opposed the planned transit route<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Resul Serdar said, \u201cIran has long been accusing the Azeri government of turning Azerbaijan into an Israeli spy base.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are accusing [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev of undermining Iran\u2019s security from its northern border,\u201d Serdar added. \u201cIran said multiple times that if Azerbaijan did not stop, it would be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n Serdar said Thursday\u2019s drone strikes were sending a clear message to the Azeri government. \u201cIran is engaging in a conflict with neighbouring countries,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cthe Gulf, Turkiye and now Azerbaijan.\u201d<\/p>\n Expanding war<\/p>\n The drone attacks in Nakhchivan come amid reports of more Iranian drones targeting countries across the region<\/a>, including a US military base near Baghdad international airport in Iraq.<\/p>\n Qatar\u2019s Ministry of Defence said its air defence systems intercepted a missile attack as multiple explosions were heard in the skies above Doha.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0said one of its storage tanks was damaged.<\/p>\n Earlier, Turkiye\u2019s Ministry of National Defence said on Wednesday a \u2060ballistic missile fired from \u2060Iran towards Turkish airspace<\/a>\u00a0was destroyed \u2060by NATO air and missile defence systems over \u200cthe eastern Mediterranean after \u2060passing Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n