Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack against its exclave of Nakhchivan, injuring two civilians. One drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan and another near a school, where two people suffered injuries, the ministry said in a statement.
Iran has not acknowledged targeting Azerbaijan, but its attacks have spread erratically as the conflict has expanded to involve regional countries and those beyond. However, reports claimed that the said attack was carried out by Tehran's Arash-2 long-range drones.
Iran's Arash-2 drones
Superior to the much-discussed Shahed drones of the Islamic Republic, the Arash-2 is a one-way attack drone that entered service in 2020. An upgraded version of the Kian-2 drone, it has a 2,000 km strike range and carries a 150 kg warhead. These drones are capable of executing intelligence-gathering roles in addition to precision strikes and swarm operations.
Originally operated by Iran's regular army (Artesh), Iran has claimed publicly that these drones were designed with unique capabilities specifically required to target Israel's Haifa and Tel Aviv, which are 1,855 km and 1,903 km respectively from Tehran.
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Unconfirmed reports claim that each Arash drone is about 10 feet long and could reportedly be launched from a regular car. Keeping true to the principle of "cheap weaponry", these suicide UAVs can be manufactured with parts that are easier to smuggle. They do not produce high thermal signatures, which makes them harder to track via satellite than ballistic missiles, Iranian reports claimed.
While Iran is known to sell its drones, it is not officially acknowledged if Russia was given access to this particular variety. However, Western outlets maintain that these drones were used by both Russian invaders and Ukrainian defenders as the war in Europe progressed.
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While sources in the West have photographed antennas installed on some of these UAVs, they doubt their full-fledged communication channel capability. They maintain that the possibility of their use as an element of a passive radar head is debatable.
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Meanwhile, Qatar evacuated residents near the US Embassy in Doha as a temporary precaution on Thursday and later reported a missile attack on the city. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a drone in its province bordering Jordan.
Eyewitness videos from an airport in Azerbaijan captured the moment of a suspected Iranian drone attack. The country’s foreign ministry said another drone launched from Iran landed near a school, with at least two people injured in the attacks. pic.twitter.com/qqZzAJ17Lp
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 5, 2026
A tanker apparently came under attack off the coast of Kuwait early Thursday, expanding the area where commercial shipping is in danger, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre run by the British military. It said there was an explosion but did not offer a cause. Iran has, in the past, attacked ships by attaching limpet mines to them.
