Azerbaijan sends humanitarian aid to Iran amid regional escalation
The aid delivery comes despite a recent drone incident that briefly disrupted cross-border traffic between Azerbaijan and Iran.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ordered the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Tehran amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran, according to media reports.
Ten tonnes of flour and approximately two tonnes of medicine and medical supplies, along with other humanitarian goods, have been sent to Iran from Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani state news agency APA reported on Tuesday.
"The humanitarian aid sent to the Islamic Republic of Iran by vehicles of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Emergency Situations includes 10 tonnes of flour, 6 tonnes of rice, 2.4 tonnes of sugar, more than 4 tonnes of water, about 600 kg of tea, and about 2 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies," the agency stated.
The aid delivery comes despite a recent drone incident that briefly disrupted cross-border traffic between Azerbaijan and Iran. Azerbaijan said on Monday it had reopened its border crossings with Iran for all cargo traffic, the Russian state-run TASS news agency reported.
The crossings, one of the shortest land routes connecting Iran to its ally Russia, were closed last week after what Baku described as an Iranian drone attack in the Nakhchivan exclave.
Late on Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian phoned his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, telling him Tehran was not responsible for the drone incursions into Azerbaijan but pledging an investigation, Aliyev’s office said.
“Noting that the incident involving an air strike on Nakhchivan had no connection with Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasised that the incident would be investigated,” the statement said.
Azerbaijani authorities said four drones had crossed its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave last Thursday.
Tensions escalated across the Middle East when the US and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on February 28 that have so far killed over 1,300 people, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf countries that host US assets.