According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, one drone damaged a local airport while another landed near a school, injuring two people. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of committing an “act of terror against the state of Azerbaijan” and demanded an apology from it. The Iranian military denied launching any drones on Azerbaijan amid the Islamic Republic’s ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry made no explicit mention of the drone attack in its readout of Mirzoyan’s call with Bayramov. It said the two ministers discussed “the latest developments in the region.”
“The parties expressed concern and noted the importance of refraining from actions aimed at further escalating tensions, emphasizing the need to ensure stability and security,” it said, adding that they also stressed “the importance of lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The ministry released a similar short statement on Mirzoyan’s separate call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that took place on Friday. The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the drone attack but did not explicitly blame Iran for it.
The Armenian government has reacted cautiously to the outbreak of the war. It has offered condolences to Iran over the killings of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials but refrained from criticizing the U.S.-Israeli military campaign.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told an Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet on Thursday that the Islamic Republic will strike neighboring countries only if military bases located there are used to launch attacks against it. Some Iranian officials suspected that Israel used Azerbaijani territory during last June’s 12-day military conflict with Iran. Baku strongly denied that.
Azerbaijan is one of the main oil suppliers to Israel, while Israel has been a key defense partner for Baku for years. Azerbaijani forces heavily used Israeli-made attack drones and rocket systems during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Bayramov thanked the Israeli government for that support when he visited Israel in March 2023.