May 5, 2026: Azerbaijan and Iran seem to have reconciled after Iran bombed Azerbaijan on March 6 and the latter’s president angrily demanded explanations and an apology. Prior to that, the Azerbaijani President had visited the Iranian Embassy in the capitol to offer condolences over the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following Israeli and American airstrikes. Four days later, in a telephone conversation with the Iranian President, the Azerbaijani president again conveyed condolences and expressed readiness to provide compassionate aid to Iran. Then Iran bombed Azerbaijan and the fur started to fly.

They have since made up as the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry declared that that Azerbaijani territory would not be used for attacks against Iran and called for the conflict with the Americans and Israel to be resolved through negotiation. The Azerbaijani president chose to keep the presidential channel open and frame the relationship in terms of crisis management despite severe regional escalation.

Azerbaijan implemented measures to secure its territory and evacuate its citizens. By early March, the Foreign Ministry said the Cabinet of Ministers’ task force had allowed Azerbaijani citizens in Iran to return unhindered by land, and that about 300 had already crossed back into Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani official coverage also reported that embassies were operating at heightened capacity and that the state was using both the Azerbaijani and Turkish land borders for the exit of Azerbaijani citizens from Iran. Azerbaijan has treated the war as a direct consular and border-management emergency requiring centralized state coordination rather than solely an external diplomatic crisis.

Azerbaijan quickly became a transit link for third-country evacuations from Iran. Citizens and diplomats from Russia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Algeria, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Tajikistan, and Austria fled Iran through Azerbaijani territory in the first days of the crisis. On March 10, the Dutch Embassy in Iran also announced that it would temporarily operate from Azerbaijan. On March 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Aliyev for Azerbaijan’s prompt assistance in evacuating Russian citizens from Iran. Azerbaijan’s security role was not limited to self-protection. It also emerged as a functioning regional safety valve during the crisis.

The Astara border crossing transitioned into a managed humanitarian corridor for aid flows into Iran. On March 10, approximately 30 tons of Azerbaijani food, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies sent on Aliyev’s instructions crossed into Iran. Eighty-two additional tons of Azerbaijani aid reportedly crossed through Astara a week later. The Iranian Red Crescent Society described Azerbaijan as one of the first countries to send humanitarian aid and said other states were also channeling assistance to Iran via Azerbaijan. This turned Azerbaijan from a passive neighbor into a hub between Iran and outside actors.

Azerbaijan expanded the Astara corridor’s function by enabling third-country humanitarian shipments to Iran. A Russian Emergencies Ministry Il-76 carrying over 13 tons of humanitarian cargo landed in Lankaran on March 12, after which the supplies were moved onward to Iran through Astara. An Azerbaijani media outlet later documented additional Russian aid convoys moving to Iran via Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan securely organized transport, customs, and border access so that Azerbaijani territory could serve as a controlled corridor rather than a destabilized frontier.

Azerbaijan has sustained diplomatic channels with Iran despite strained relations. Azerbaijani official behavior after the outbreak of war suggests that Azerbaijan’s method was not simply impartiality, but a method to keep the border functioning, preventing spillover, refusing participation in military action against Iran, preserving state-to-state communication, and using Azerbaijan’s geography for evacuation and aid under strict state control.

Azerbaijan would not enter the conflict, but it would actively manage its consequences. Azerbaijan’s approach to security management during the war has thus far included containment at the border, controlled diplomacy with Iran, and conversion of Azerbaijani territory into a regulated evacuation and humanitarian corridor. Rather than explicitly aligning with any side or escalating tensions, Azerbaijan acted as a practical stabilizer by securing its borders, evacuating civilians, enabling the safe transit of foreign nationals, and channeling humanitarian aid into Iran through controlled border crossings.