Azerbaijan accuses neighbor Iran of a drone attack and vows to retaliate

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians, and it vowed to retaliate as the war in the Middle East reached into another country.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan and damaged an airport building.

President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out “a groundless act of terror and aggression,” and said his military has been told to prepare and implement retaliatory measures. The Caspian Sea nation halted truck traffic across the nearly 700-kilometer (over 400-mile) border with Iran.

Iran’s general staff of the armed forces denied it had launched a drone toward Azerbaijan's territory. Iran has repeatedly denied targeting oil infrastructure and other civilian targets in the war, despite its drone and missile fire hitting those sites.

The incident highlighted Azerbaijan's complicated relationship with neighboring Iran, at a time when Baku also has developed military and economic ties with Israel.

Iran has grown increasingly concerned about the U.S. and Israel potentially leveraging the Islamic Republic’s various minority ethnic groups to destabilize the country as it comes under attack. Iran has a large Azeri population and Tehran has accused Baku of allowing Israeli intelligence to operate from there. Azerbaijan, in turn, has sought to give assurances that its territory won't be used for an attack on “neighborly and friendly” Iran.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said an Iranian drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan, and another one hit near a school. The Defense Ministry said four drones were fired by Iran toward Nakhchivan, and while one was disabled by Azerbaijani forces, the others targeted civilian facilities — including a school where classes were underway.

It was unclear if it was deliberate or an accident.

The country’s Prosecutor General’s office said four people were injured.

Nakhchivan is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a swath of Armenia about 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide. Nakhchivan accounts for about 6% of the country's territory, bordering Azerbaijan’s close ally Turkey and Iran.

“We will not tolerate this groundless act of terror and aggression committed against Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said at a meeting of his country's Security Council in remarks carried by the Azertac news agency. “Iranian officials must provide an explanation to the Azerbaijani side, an apology must be offered, and those who committed this terrorist act must be held criminally liable.”

He said Azerbaijan's military has been instructed “to prepare and implement retaliatory measures.”

The Defense Ministry vowed that Iran’s “attacks will not go unanswered,” adding it was preparing the “necessary response” to protect “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure.” It didn’t elaborate.

Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan “is not participating in operations against Iran -– neither previously nor this time -– and will not do so.”

He added: “We have neither interest in conducting any operations against neighboring countries, nor does our policy allow it.”

The Foreign Ministry said Iran's “actions contradict the norms and principles of international law and contribute to increased tension in the region,” and summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest.

Baku demanded that Iran "provide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” the statement said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Aliyev to condemn the Iranian drone attack and express support. The Turkish Foreign Ministry urged a halt to strikes that target “third countries in the region and increase the risk of the war spreading.”

Azerbaijan in recent years has developed ties with Israel and the United States, with Iran's influence in the South Caucasus region diminishing. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Aliyev and other top officials at the White House last year for a three-way summit with Armenia.

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between the countries, which included an agreement to create a transit corridor to the Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia to be called the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.”

The proposed corridor “remains a thorn in the Tehran’s side, which could partially explain” the attack on the exclave, said Mario Bikarski, senior Eastern Europe and Central Asia analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Without the U.S.-financed corridor, the main overland route to Nakhchivan and Turkey from the main part of Azerbaijan is through Iran, which gives Tehran leverage, Bikarski said. If the corridor materializes, Iran’s regional influence would be weakened because the route would facilitate Baku's normalized trade and diplomatic relations with Turkey and Armenia, and “open up the South Caucasus to increased U.S. presence,” he added.

Aliyev also met Trump last month at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He later hosted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Azerbaijan and met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance last month.

Bikarski said tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan have somewhat decreased since 2024 following the election of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has an Azeri father and a Kurdish mother. Still, Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel makes it "a plausible target of hostile Iranian actions,” he added.

In recent days, however, Baku appeared to try to assuage any concerns Iran might have over its ties with Israel and its possible role in the war, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel unleashed a series of strikes and killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Aliyev was among world leaders who sent a message of condolence over Khamenei's killing to Pezeshkian. On Wednesday, Aliyev visited the Iranian Embassy in Baku to offer his condolences personally to Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi and expressed “serious concern over the tragic escalation of the situation in the region." He also said he hoped for “the prompt cessation of military actions” and stressed that Azerbaijan's territory "cannot be used by any country against neighboring and friendly Iran.”

Bikarski said in his written comments that it is unclear whether the drones "were sent deliberately, but given one of the areas hit was a regional airport, it is likely that Azerbaijan was indeed deliberately targeted.”

He added: “Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel means it a plausible target of hostile Iranian actions.”

Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.

In this photo provided by Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service, Azebaijan's President Ilham Aliyev chairs a Security Council meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service via AP)

This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service, Azebaijan's President Ilham Aliyev writes a message in a condolence book for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Iranian Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service via AP)

This image shows damages of a school in Julfa following, what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry says was a drone attack carried out by Iran, on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal panel reviewing President Donald Trump's plans to build a ballroom at the White House has set April 2 for a final vote on the project, the chairman said as the agency prepared to give additional consideration to the construction plans.

Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission and a top aide to the Republican president, made the announcement Thursday at the start of the panel's March meeting.

The panel will hear additional details about the project from the White House as well as its own staff, and had been expected to vote on Thursday.

But Scharf announced that the vote was switched to April to give every member of the public who wants to comment a chance to do so. More than 100 people had signed up to comment at Thursday's meeting, which was being conducted online as a result.

The panel has also been flooded with scores of written comments about Trump's plans to build a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) addition where the East Wing of the White House once stood. Trump has said it will cost about $400 million and be paid for with private money. Trump had the East Wing demolished in October.

Scharf said the meeting was being conducted online to ease the public testimony portion, which he said was likely to extend into Friday given the number of people who had signed up to speak.

“They are taking time out of what I presume are busy schedules to join us," he said. “One way or the other, we are going to make sure that members of the public have the opportunity to be heard on this project."

Critics of the project have argued that Trump should not have demolished the East Wing until the National Capital Planning Commission and a separate panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, had reviewed and voted on his plans. The fine arts panel approved the project last month.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private, nonprofit group, asked a federal judge to temporarily halt construction until the White House submitted the plans both to federal panels and to Congress for approval, and allowed the public to comment.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the request last week, and the trust has said it plans to file an amended lawsuit.

Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The White House is viewed from the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

The White House and the West Wing is seen Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The White House, including the West Wing and construction of the new ballroom, is seen from the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)