Iran-Azerbaijan Conflict (2026)

On 5 March, IRGC drones struck Nakhchivan International Airport and a site near a school in Shekerabad, injuring two civilians, the first Iranian attack on a country outside the Persian Gulf in this conflict. President Aliyev called it "an act of terror" and placed Azerbaijan's forces on full combat readiness. Iran denied responsibility, blaming Israel for a "false-flag operation." Azerbaijan rejected the claim.

Iran and Azerbaijan share a 700-kilometre border and decades of strategic antagonism. Tehran long accused Baku of hosting Israeli intelligence operations and allowing its territory to be used against Iran. Azerbaijan and Israel built a close defence relationship over two decades, including drone sales and energy ties. When the US-Israeli strikes began on 28 February 2026, Iran treated Azerbaijan as a co-belligerent by proxy.

Azerbaijan is structurally exposed: it is not a CSTO member (withdrew 1999), has no NATO Article 5 protection, and sits between Russia and Iran. Russia issued no public statement on the Nakhchivan strikes despite Azerbaijan being a neighbouring state. Turkey, Azerbaijan's closest ally, is constrained by its own strategic calculus. The conflict extended the broader regional war to a third UN member state.