Hours before Iranian drones struck Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave, Tehran had called Baku asking for help
By Bernie,
Hours before Iranian drones struck Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave, Tehran had called Baku asking for help. President Ilham Aliyev revealed that Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister personally requested Azerbaijan's assistance evacuating Iranian embassy staff stranded in Lebanon, saying Iran lacked the capability to do so itself. Aliyev said he immediately ordered a plane dispatched and refused Iran's offer of payment.
Two drones launched from Iranian territory then hit the Nakhchivan exclave, one striking the terminal building of Nakhchivan International Airport and another landing near a school in the village of Shakarabad, injuring two civilians. A Telegram channel affiliated with the IRGC claimed responsibility, though Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister denied on the phone to Aliyev targeting Azerbaijan.
"In return for all of this, the attack on Nakhchivan came in such a dirty, cowardly, and unmanly way," Aliyev stated. "This stain will never be erased from their dirty and ugly faces." Aliyev convened an emergency Security Council meeting in Baku and placed the country's military on a war footing, raising the Ministry of Defense, State Border Service, and all Special Forces units to the highest level of combat readiness. "The Azerbaijani people can be assured that any hostile force will feel the full might of our Iron Fist," he said.
Azerbaijan has closed its airspace near the Iranian border for the next 12 hours, summoned Iran's ambassador, and stated it reserves the right to take retaliatory measures. The strikes add Azerbaijan to the growing list of countries hit by Iranian fire since the start of the conflict.
Topics: Iran, Lebanon & Hezbollah
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