Azerbaijan closes airspace near Iran after drone attack

2026-03-05 - 16:24

Shafaq News- Baku Azerbaijan on Thursday closed its airspace in the southern part near the Iranian border for 12 hours, justifying the decision after what officials said were Iranian drone attacks targeting the country. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said four Iranian drones struck civilian infrastructure, including a secondary school, and called on Tehran to issue an official apology. President Ilham Aliyev said Baku is not participating in the ongoing war against Iran. “We will not take part in any operations against Iran, and we are ready to demonstrate our strength against any forces. Iran should not forget that,” he noted. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry reported that one drone hit the terminal building at Nakhchivan airport, while another fell near a school in the village of Shakarabad. It warned that the incident violates international law and raises regional tensions, demanding a clear explanation and an investigation “within the shortest possible timeframe,” and stressing that “the Azerbaijani side reserves the right to take appropriate response measures.” Officials summoned Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mojtaba Demirchilou, to deliver a formal protest note. Iran has not commented on the incident. The accusation comes as tensions rise across the region after joint US–Israeli strikes targeted sites inside Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran against Israel and US military bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.