Tensions escalate between Azerbaijan and Iran over recent events.

Azerbaijan has denounced comments made by a senior Iranian military commander, Kiumars Heydari, who claimed that members of the Islamic State militant group had fought for Azerbaijan and were still based in the country. Azerbaijan called the comments "vile, defamatory and slanderous". Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent months, with Azerbaijan closing its embassy in Tehran in January following a "terrorist attack". Azerbaijan is also unhappy about signs of improving relations between Iran and Armenia, which lost a 2020 war against Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.