BREAKING: Iran Alleges Nakhchivan Airport Drone Strike Was a False Flag Operation, Points to Azerbaijani-Made Drone Components
Tehran claims drone wreckage broadcast on Azerbaijani television bore domestically produced markings; Baku and the wider international community reject the allegation
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has published a report alleging that Thursday’s drone attack on Nakhchivan International Airport was not carried out by Iranian forces but was, instead, a false flag operation orchestrated by Azerbaijan itself, possibly in coordination with unnamed external actors. The claim, which Tehran says is supported by imagery of drone wreckage aired on Azerbaijani television, marks a significant escalation in the war of narratives surrounding the incident.
According to Tasnim, high-resolution footage broadcast live by Baku TV, a state-affiliated Azerbaijani broadcaster, inadvertently revealed that key components of the drones recovered from the airport site bore the Azerbaijani-language inscription “İstehsalat Birliyi”, meaning “Production Union.” Iranian state media asserts that this marking points to Azerbaijan’s domestic military-industrial base as the origin of the drones, directly contradicting Baku’s attribution of the attack to Iran.
Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, as cited by Tasnim, reiterated its categorical denial of any involvement, stating that the Islamic Republic “respects the sovereignty of all countries, especially Muslim and neighbouring states,” and describing the allegations against it as a “pre-planned scenario” aimed at undermining relations between Muslim-majority nations. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has echoed these denials, with Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi reportedly telling his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in a phone call that Israel was behind the incident as part of a broader effort to divert attention and fracture regional solidarity.
The Azerbaijani and International Response
Iran’s claims stand in sharp contrast to the prevailing international consensus. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that drones launched from Iranian territory struck the Nakhchivan Airport terminal and the area near a school in the village of Shakarabad at around noon on Thursday, injuring at least two civilians and causing damage to the airport’s infrastructure. Baku summoned Iran’s ambassador and demanded an immediate explanation.
President Ilham Aliyev, chairing an emergency session of the Security Council, characterised the strike as “an act of terror” and placed the Azerbaijani military on full combat readiness. Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry separately stated that its technical monitoring systems had tracked four unmanned aerial vehicles originating from Iranian airspace, and called on Tehran to “stop their obvious denial.”
Turkey, Azerbaijan’s closest ally, also condemned the strikes. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke with Bayramov to express solidarity, while Ankara issued a formal statement urging an immediate end to the attacks and affirming its continued support for Baku under the framework of the 2021 Shusha Declaration. Qatar and Saudi Arabia similarly condemned the incident as a violation of sovereignty and international law.
It should be noted that an IRGC-affiliated Telegram channel, the Sepah Pasdaran News Channel, offered a contradictory account to that of the Iranian General Staff, claiming that an Iranian Arash-2 drone had deliberately struck a drone positioned at the airport, alleging the site was being used by “foreign officers” to plan attacks on Iranian infrastructure. The channel described the strike as a “warning” to Baku. This admission sits uneasily alongside Iran’s official denial and the Tasnim false flag narrative, raising questions about the coherence of Tehran’s messaging.
Competing Narratives in a Volatile Moment
The Tasnim report fits within a broader Iranian information strategy that has, throughout the current US–Israel–Iran conflict, attributed drone strikes and other military incidents in the region to Israeli false flag operations. However, the specific claim regarding the “İstehsalat Birliyi” inscription has not been independently verified at the time of writing, and no international media outlets have corroborated the alleged broadcast footage from Baku TV.
From Baku’s perspective, Azerbaijan’s defence and intelligence authorities have presented what they describe as radar tracking data and technical monitoring evidence linking the drones to Iranian airspace. The U.S. Embassy in Baku, in a security alert issued on 6 March, referred to the incident using the framing of the Azerbaijani government’s account.
The incident has injected a dangerous new dimension into an already volatile regional environment. Azerbaijan and Iran, both Shia-majority states with deep historical and cultural ties, have experienced recurring tensions in recent years, particularly over Baku’s expanding security cooperation with Israel. Iran has long viewed the Israel–Azerbaijan defence relationship with suspicion, and has previously accused Baku of allowing its territory to be used for hostile operations against Iran.
Whether the Tasnim allegations gain traction beyond Iranian state media, or remain a unilateral narrative directed primarily at a domestic and regional audience, will likely depend on whether any independent technical investigation of the drone wreckage is conducted—and whether its findings are made publicly available.