Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, on Thursday accused Israel of carrying out a drone attack in Azerbaijan and falsely blaming Tehran in an attempt to damage relations between the two neighboring countries.

According to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Araghchi made the remarks during a phone conversation with Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister.

During the call, Araghchi strongly denied allegations that Iran had launched any projectiles toward Azerbaijan and rejected claims linking Tehran to the incident. He described the accusations as baseless and warned against what he called efforts to create tension between Iran and its neighbors.

The Iranian foreign minister also condemned what he referred to as the role of the “Israeli regime” in orchestrating such attacks, arguing that they are intended to divert international attention and undermine Iran’s diplomatic relations in the region.

The statements came after a drone strike earlier in the day in Nakhichevan, an Azerbaijani exclave located near the Iranian border. Local reports said the attack injured four people and caused alarm in the area.

Officials in Azerbaijan have not yet publicly confirmed who was responsible for the strike. The incident comes amid rising regional tensions and competing narratives among regional powers over responsibility for attacks and security incidents.