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)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Firefighters entered a charred ferry in Philippine waters on Friday after a fire two nights earlier left five people dead and 84 missing and produced heat and smoke that prevented search and rescue efforts onboard.

Images released by the coast guard around midday showed three smaller boats near the MV June Aster, which appeared to have stopped emitting smoke as personnel walked on the outer portion of the ship.

Coast guard communications officer Joy Dianne Gumatay said Friday they had not received updates from the firefighting team about what was found inside, including whether there were additional fatalities.

The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, on Wednesday evening and was around 7.4 kilometers (4.5 miles) off the village of Turda near its destination of Coron in Palawan province when the fire was reported.

Rescuers struggled to get inside the burning, smoking vessel Thursday to search for passengers who may been trapped. The efforts were halted overnight.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

The coast guard and other vessels have rescued 43 people, some plucked from the dark waters as the ferry burned.

“The fire quickly spread. That’s when I dropped to the ground and my back was burned,” survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva said in a video broadcast by News5, adding that he jumped from a window. “I wanted to get a life jacket but failed to get one because people were stepping on me. People were in panic.”

The coast guard, other government agencies, private volunteers and fishermen searched the nearby waters and coastal patrols checked for people who may have drifted to shore but no new survivors or fatalities were found.

According to the manifest, 134 people were onboard, 117 of them passengers and 17 crew. The 53-meter (174-foot) vessel had a capacity to carry 306 passengers and 27 crew.

Two passengers listed in the manifest reported to authorities that they failed to board, bringing the number of missing to 84, the coast guard said.

Two of the survivors were tourists from Chile, according to Rachel Conserman, a staffer of the ship’s owner Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc. They are recovering from injuries in a hospital in Coron, she said, adding that there no other foreigners known to have been on the ship.

The shipping company said in a statement it was assisting those who were on board and their families while coordinating with the coast guard and maritime officials to locate the missing passengers and determine the cause.

Coron is a popular tourist destination known for clear blue waters, limestone cliffs and rock formations.

Ferries are frequently used for transport in the Philippine archipelago. Sea accidents are not uncommon due to storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

People prepare equipment to go out to sea from a pier in Turda, Palawan province, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after ferry MV June Aster caught fire. (AP Photo/Harly Clark Cachero)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, aerial survey is being conducted around ferry MV June Aster off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

This photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the ferry MV June Aster off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, ferry MV June Aster smolders off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, ferry MV June Aster smolders off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)