The IAC between Iran and Azerbaijan was triggered on 5 March 2026 when Iran breached Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory by deploying four drones at Nakhchivan.¹‘Multiple Arab states that host US assets targeted in Iran retaliation’, Al Jazeera, 28 February 2026; K. Khalilova, ‘Azerbaijan furious with Iran as war spills over its border’, BBC, 6 March 2026. The attacks targeted Nakhchivan International Airport and a children’s school in the village of Shakarabad, injuring several civilians and causing material damage to critical civilian infrastructure.²T. Pigott, ‘The United States Condemns Iranian Drone Attack on the Republic of Azerbaijan’, U.S. Department of State, 7 March 2026; ‘No:072/26, Statement on drone attacks against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran’, Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 March 2026; O. G. Daniel and A. Brezar, ‘Iranian drones strike Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan international airport’, Euro News, 5 March 2026; E. Benedis-Grab, ‘Iran’s Strike on Azerbaijan Tests Central Asia’s Balancing Act’, Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute, 30 March 2026.

As set out above, for an IAC to end, there needs to be a degree of stability and permanence in the closure of military operations. Since 5 March there has been no confirmed Iranian drone or missile activity within the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. The IAC between Iran and Azerbaijan has thus ended.

• 1
  ‘Multiple Arab states that host US assets targeted in Iran retaliation’, Al Jazeera, 28 February 2026; K. Khalilova, ‘Azerbaijan furious with Iran as war spills over its border’, BBC, 6 March 2026.
• 2
  T. Pigott, ‘The United States Condemns Iranian Drone Attack on the Republic of Azerbaijan’, U.S. Department of State, 7 March 2026; ‘No:072/26, Statement on drone attacks against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran’, Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 March 2026; O. G. Daniel and A. Brezar, ‘Iranian drones strike Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan international airport’, Euro News, 5 March 2026; E. Benedis-Grab, ‘Iran’s Strike on Azerbaijan Tests Central Asia’s Balancing Act’, Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute, 30 March 2026.