On March 5, 2026, four people were injured in an alleged Iranian drone strike on the Nakhchivan International Airport in Azerbaijan. The victims were identified as three airport employees – Reyhana Sabir Valiyeva, Zulfugar Zulfugarli, and Mehdi Asgarov – and a passenger named Asad Jafarov.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced that “civilian infrastructure objects in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan were attacked from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran using two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with remotely controlled explosive warheads. Initial investigation has established that one of the unmanned aerial vehicles landed on the terminal of Nakhchivan International Airport, while the other landed near an educational institution in the village of Shekerabad, Babek district. The incident significantly damaged the civil infrastructure, namely the administrative building of Nakhchivan International Airport and its operations.” It also reported that “four civilians received bodily injuries as a result of the incident”, including “staff on duty at Nakhchivan Airport: Valiyeva Reyhana Sabir, born in 1986; Zulfugarli Zulfugar Mammad, born in 1996; Asgarov Mehdi Matlab, born in 1996” and “a passenger awaiting boarding” named “Jafarov Asad Vidadi oglu, born in 1998.”

Around noon that day, Trend news agency, citing Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Health, provided an update on “the health condition of individuals injured during the drone attack on Nakhchivan International Airport,” including the reassuring news that “according to doctors, the condition of the injured individuals is stable, and there is no threat to their lives.”

The outlet reported that passenger “Asad Jafarov, born in 1998 and a resident of Nehram settlement in the Babek district, sustained a closed craniocerebral injury and barotrauma as a result of the blast wave. As a consequence, he is experiencing hearing problems. The victim received first aid and is currently undergoing medical examinations to assess his health condition.”

“Another injured individual, Mehdi Asgarov, born in 1996 and a resident of the Julfa district, suffered a shoulder injury during the incident. He was provided with medical assistance, and his treatment is ongoing,” the article stated.

It also reported that “Reykhana Valiyeva, born in 1986 and a resident of the city of Nakhchivan, sustained a closed craniocerebral injury and barotrauma due to the blast wave. Her treatment is also continuing.”

The third airport employee, “Zulfugar Zulfugarli, born in 1996 and a resident of the city of Nakhchivan, suffered blunt chest trauma as a result of the explosion. He was provided with medical care and remains under treatment.”

Following the strike, The New York Post ran a story attributed to Jewish News Syndicate featuring a number of photos and videos depicting the aftermath of the drone strikes. One video, apparently recorded on a cell phone in the parking lot of the Nakhchivan International Airport, shows clips of a projectile hitting a building in the distance, resulting in a large orange fireball and a cloud of black smoke. A photo taken inside the airport shows debris strewn about. Other photos show charred debris in an empty field, with one of the captions calling it “debris of a drone near a school in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.”

According to the Guardian and The Times of Israel, Iran has denied any connection to the drone attack on Nakhchivan airport and accused Israel of the “false flag” operation.  “The Islamic Republic of Iran has not targeted the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said in comments carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency. “We do not target our neighbouring countries.”

The Times of Israel reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of launching a drone attack in Azerbaijan that was blamed on Iran, describing it as an attempt to harm Tehran’s relations with its neighbor. In a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Araghchi “denied that Iran fired any projectiles” at Azerbaijan. He also condemned “the role of the Israeli regime in such attacks in order to divert public opinion and destroy Iran’s good relations with its neighbors,” according to a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry.

In an interview with the British news outlet, Zaur Shiriyev, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said it was still unclear whether Iran had specifically intended to strike Nakhchivan airport. But he added that, if confirmed, the attack would be a serious incident and difficult to dismiss as an accident, saying, “airports are critical infrastructure, so this is bound to raise serious questions.”

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources aside from Iranian government officials attributed the incident to the Iranian military.