Azerbaijan Threatens Missile Strike on Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant

Azerbaijan's military agency is threatening Armenia with international nuclear crime by way of missile strikes on the Metsamor nuclear power plant. This statement was made by the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, Vagif Dargyakhli.

“The Armenian side should not forget that more modern missile systems present in the Azerbaijani army's arsenal can precisely hit the Metsamor NPP, which would lead to a large disaster for Armenia,” Dargyakhli said during a press conference on July 16 in response to a question from an Azerbaijani journalist, according to Armenpress.

During the days of heightened tension starting July 12, Armenia never announced the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including the Mingachevir Reservoir, nor did it target civilian objects.

Azerbaijan has made such terrorist threats before. In 2018, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense issued a similar warning, stating that the most modern means of destructive weaponry within Azerbaijan’s arsenal could swiftly destroy all important military objects and strategic communication lines in Armenia.

“There are objects on the territory of Armenia, the destruction of which would leave the area uninhabitable for hundreds of years,” the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense had declared.

The 1987 Geneva Conference on Terrorism adopted a declaration titled “The Geneva Declaration on Terrorism,” which specifically records armed attacks by state armed forces against targets threatening the civilian population of another state as acts of state terrorism.