Tensions are escalating between Iran and Azerbaijan amid suspicions in Tehran that the Azerbaijani government allowed the Israeli Air Force to use its airspace to carry out recent strikes on Iranian territory during Operation Rising Lion.
Iran has formally demanded an investigation, as diplomatic relations between the two neighbors teeter on the brink of unprecedented deterioration.
Sources in Iran claim that Israeli fighter jets used Azerbaijani airspace, particularly over the Caspian Sea, to carry out precision-guided bombings of targets in Tehran and other areas. The attacks, reportedly involving deep penetration into Iranian territory, are believed by Iranian officials to have been facilitated through close military and economic coordination between Baku and Jerusalem.
While Azerbaijan has strongly denied allowing its airspace to be used for attacks against Iran or any other nation, Iranian officials have publicly pointed to media reports suggesting such cooperation. They have refrained from making direct accusations, instead citing the need for clarification and transparency.
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly raised the issue in a conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, echoing Tehran’s concerns over the alleged airspace violations. Iran’s ambassador to Armenia also criticized Baku’s leadership, further fueling a wave of harsh responses in Azerbaijani media, including personal attacks on Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In an editorial published by the Azerbaijani outlet Caliber, the writer claimed that “Iran’s primary enemy is not an individual official or diplomatic actor, but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei himself.”
The piece accused Khamenei of spearheading a long-standing “hostile and subversive policy” toward Baku, saying that every anti-Azerbaijani provocation and leak of sensitive information could be traced back to his office. “This is not a series of isolated incidents,” the article stated. “This is an ideology — and its architect is Ali Khamenei.”
According to Iranian reports, the airstrikes on Tehran and Karaj originated via routes over the Caspian Sea — a corridor that only Azerbaijan could have permitted, as Iran considers Armenia, Russia and Turkmenistan to be regional allies. Strikes on Tabriz reportedly came via Iraqi airspace, while attacks on Kermanshah and Isfahan were also launched from Iraq following the destruction of Iranian air defense systems in those regions.