Iran Crisis Spills Beyond Mideast
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| Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times |
Two Iranian drones fell into Azerbaijan on Thursday, and more Iranian strikes were reported in Israel and Iraq, the latest signs of a broadening regional conflict as a sustained campaign of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran entered its sixth day.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said that the two drones had landed in Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave on Iran’s northern border, injuring two civilians. Iran’s armed forces denied firing drones at Azerbaijan and blamed the action on Israel.
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The temperature was below freezing at the Kapikoy Border Gate on Turkey’s eastern border with Iran as small groups of Iranians crossed into Turkey on Thursday. They offered a glimpse of how the U.S.-Israeli air campaign is disrupting people’s lives.
A 35-year-old woman who left her husband behind said she hadn’t slept in three days and was severely anxious. She fled Tehran as bombs fell around her neighborhood, she said. She was planning to go to Istanbul, then travel on to Sydney to be with relatives. Like many of those interviewed, she declined to give her name for fear of repercussions from Iran’s government.
In a war that has rapidly engulfed much of the Middle East, one party has held back from joining the fight: Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Mugeeb Shamsan, an army brigadier affiliated with the Houthis, said in a phone interview that the group was “watching the situation” and would take action if necessary. “Iran has the capabilities to defend itself and Yemen will be there in the right time,” he said.
Elisabetta Povoledo and Lizzie Dearden
Elisabetta Povoledo reported from Rome, and Lizzie Dearden from London.
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More European countries were being drawn into the widening orbit of the Iran conflict on Thursday, as they announced the deployment of military assets to Gulf nations and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus for what top officials described as defensive purposes.
Italy said on Thursday that it would send air defense weapons to Persian Gulf nations to fend off Iranian attacks. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that Italy would provide “air defense systems, anti-drone and antimissile systems” to Gulf countries that had asked for them to protect Italian diplomatic and military missions and national interests.
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The crisis in the Middle East has started to reverberate in Ukraine, putting peace talks with Russia on hold and raising fears in Kyiv of diminished military support.
After the United States and Israel started bombing Iran five days ago, the conflict quickly spread through the Mideast. As Iran has targeted the United States’ Persian Gulf allies with missiles and drones, those countries and American forces have fired large numbers of interceptor missiles to fend off the attacks.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain has announced that four fighter jets were being sent to Qatar to “strengthen our defensive operations” across the region, while military helicopters with counter-drone capabilities are due to arrive in Cyprus tomorrow.
Mr. Starmer said in a news conference that he stood by his decision not to support the initial U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, which angered President Trump, but that “when Iran started attacking countries around the Gulf and the wider region, the situation changed.”
British planes have shot down “multiple drones” and assisted air-to-air refuelling over Jordan, Qatar and other countries, he said.
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Iranian Kurdish forces, based in Iraq, are preparing armed units that could be sent into Iran, potentially with U.S. support, in an insurgency that would open a new front against the Iranian government.
Though the White House has denied that it agreed to any plan for the Kurds to launch an insurgency in Iran, the United States has a long history of working with Kurdish militias around the region.
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