Azerbaijan said on Friday it had foiled a series of Iranian "terrorist" attacks on its territory, including on a key oil pipeline.
The accusation comes a day after Baku accused Iran of firing drones at an Azerbaijani border region, an incident that has sparked fears of the Middle East war spilling over into the Caucasus.
In a video statement, Azerbaijan's state security service said it had "prevented terrorist acts and intelligence operations in Azerbaijan organised by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
Among the planned targets was the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs through neighbouring Georgia and Türkiye and carries around a third of Israel's oil imports, it said.
The IRGC also plotted an attack against the Israeli embassy in Baku, as well as attacks on a synagogue and Jewish community leaders, it added.
At least seven Azerbaijani nationals have been detained in connection with the probe, it said.
Iran made no immediate public comment on Azerbaijan's accusations.
The United States and Israel began strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing its supreme leader and sparking retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.
The war, now in its seventh day, has embroiled nations beyond the region and upended the world's energy and transport sectors.
Azerbaijan said on Friday it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran.
"The process applies to both the embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Tabriz," Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said.
Drone attacks
Thursday's attacks involved at least four drones that crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan bordering Iran.
One hit the airport and another exploded near a school, Baku said. Four people were wounded.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of "terrorism" and threatened retaliation.
The general staff of Iran's armed forces said it had not carried out the attack and pointed the finger at Israel.
Iran has long expressed concern that Israel — a close ally of Azerbaijan and a key arms supplier — could use Azerbaijani territory to stage attacks.
In June 2025, Azerbaijan reassured Tehran that it would not allow such use of its territory after Israel launched a large-scale strike on Iranian targets.
Tehran has historically been wary of separatist sentiment among its ethnic Azerbaijani minority, which makes up around 10 million of Iran's 83 million citizens.
