Diplomatic tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan are growing after Iranian officials accused Baku of allowing Israeli fighter jets to use its airspace to carry out strikes deep inside Iranian territory during Operation Rising Lion. Tehran has formally demanded an investigation into alleged Azerbaijani complicity in the air raids. Iranian sources claim Israeli jets transited Azerbaijani airspace, particularly over the Caspian Sea, to conduct precision-guided bombings, attacks which Iranian officials believe were supported by close military and economic coordination between Baku and Jerusalem. While Azerbaijan has strongly denied permitting its airspace to be used for strikes against Iran or any other nation, Iranian leaders have publicly cited media reports pointing to potential cooperation. They stopped short of a direct accusation but insisted that Baku provide clarifications and full transparency. According to Iranian reports, some strikes on Tehran and Karaj allegedly originated via corridors over the Caspian Sea that only Azerbaijan could have opened, given Iran’s strategic alliances with Armenia, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Other attacks on Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Isfahan reportedly involved flight paths through Iraqi airspace following the disabling of Iranian air defense systems in those regions. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is said to have raised the issue directly with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, underscoring Tehran’s concerns about what it views as violations of its sovereignty. Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to Armenia also criticized Azerbaijan’s leadership, triggering a furious backlash in Azerbaijani media. An editorial published by the Azerbaijani outlet Caliber went so far as to accuse Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei personally of pursuing a “hostile and subversive policy” toward Baku, declaring him the true architect of anti-Azerbaijani sentiment within the Iranian regime. “This is not a series of isolated incidents,” the editorial charged. “This is an ideology — and its architect is Ali Khamenei.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)