President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared on Thursday that his country would use “the full might of our ‘Iron Fist’” against the terrorist regime in Iran after drones flying in from Iran struck an airport and near a school building in the Caucasus nation.
Azerbaijan is one of over a dozen countries now implicated in the conflict between Iran versus Israel and the United States as a result of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) indiscriminately targeting its neighbors. In addition to Azerbaijan, other countries suffering Iranian attacks this week include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Cyprus, Jordan, and Israel. Iranian drones and missile attacks have interrupted lucrative oil and natural gas operations in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and prompted global condemnation.
On Thursday, the Azeri Foreign Ministry reported that it had documented several drone attacks in the Nakhchivan region of the country originating in Iran.
“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 Foreign Ministry detailed. “We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and injuries of two civilians.”
Videos emerged on social media showing smoke emanating from the targeted sites. Reports indicate at least two people were injured by the blasts.
Azerbaijan is a majority Shia Muslim country, like Iran, and has typically enjoyed friendly relations with Tehran, leaving unclear what objective the Iranian armed forces could have been pursuing by targeting it. In a meeting later in the day, Aliyev, the nation’s president, highlighted the nation’s close ties and the fact that he was the only world head of state to offer condolences to Iran after the elimination of “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by America’s “Operation Epic Fury” this weekend.
Aliyev demanded an explanation from Tehran and said his military, battle-hardened after the genocide of the indigenous Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh, would prepare retaliation.
“The Azerbaijani people can be assured that any hostile force will feel the full might of our ‘Iron Fist,’” he declared in his remarks, as published by the president’s office. “They should not test our strength. Those who did so in the past had their skulls crushed with ‘Iron Fist,’ and today’s events will lead to the same outcome.”
“All necessary measures will be taken through diplomatic channels,” he promised. “Our Armed Forces — the Ministry of Defense, the State Border Service, and all Special Forces units — have been placed at the highest level of combat readiness and are prepared to carry out any required operations.”
Aliyev referred to the drone attack as a “terrorist act” and emphasized that they targeted civilian facilities. He also chided Iran for “ingratitude” after he personally expressed sympathy to the terrorist regime for the loss of its leader.
“I demonstrated my position by personally visiting their embassy to offer condolences — no other head of state has visited an Iranian embassy elsewhere for this purpose,” he noted. “To disregard such a gesture, to belittle it, and to conduct themselves in a base and ungrateful manner brings honor to no one. Those dishonorable perpetrators who committed this terrorist act against us will regret it.”
Aliyev demanded an explanation and an apology.
What is left of the Iranian government after the launch of “Operation Epic Fury” denied that its forces had targeted Azerbaijan and suggested that Israel, through its spy agents, was responsible.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has not targeted the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Thursday. “We do not target our neighboring countries.”
In reality, most Gulf states and other neighbors such as Iraq and Jordan have confirmed being targeted this week by Iranian missiles and drones.
Gharibabadi’s boss, Foreign Ministry Abbas Araghchi, similarly denied any Iranian attack on Azerbaijan, claiming Israel had a history of attacks like these to “disrupt relations between Muslim countries.”
Iran has not presented any evidence, nor has Azerbaijan, that suggests any Israeli involvement in the incident.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces separately denied intentionally striking Azerbaijan but left open the possibility of human error: “The Islamic Republic of Iran, respecting the sovereignty of all neighboring states, especially brotherly Muslim countries, denies the launch of UAVs by the Iranian Armed Forces toward Azerbaijan.”
Azerbaijan has traditionally enjoyed cordial relations with both Iran and the United States. President Donald Trump has expanded that relationship alongside efforts to end the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the leaders of both countries signing a peace agreement at the White House. Aliyev thanked President Trump for his efforts during his U.N. General Assembly speech in September and nominated him for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
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