Azerbaijan has assumed what can be described as an aggressive-defensive posture as the government seeks to prevent a repeat of the March 5 Iranian drone strikes in the Nakhichevan exclave.
For officials in Baku, the psychological impact of the Iranian attack was perhaps more significant than the damage and bodily harm it caused. President Ilham Aliyev and his lieutenants in government had gone to significant lengths to foster goodwill with the Iranian leadership during the early days of the US-Israeli blitz, actions that they believed could insulate Azerbaijan from the widening war.
To their evident dismay, their assumptions were proven wrong. An indicator of the shock inflicted by the drone incident could be seen in initial responses of Azerbaijani officials, who used words such as “ingratitude,” “hypocrisy” and “despicable” when describing Iranian behavior.
Early on March 6, the Defense Ministry quietly posted an Azeri-language-only notice on its Telegram channel announcing that the army was calling up reservists and had placed military units on alert.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani officials, amplified by state-affiliated media outlets, kept up a steady stream of confrontational rhetoric that seemed intent on scaring Iran from sending more drones in Azerbaijan’s direction. One March 6 headline of a commentary published by the government-connected Caliber news outlet, for example, read: “Drones over Nakhichevan: Iran is playing with fire.”
At the same time, the government and state-aligned media have published myriad statements and reports about international support for Azerbaijan and condemnations of the drone strikes.
