Azerbaijani media reported that the country’s security service has placed several operatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under pursuit for allegedly preparing “terrorist acts” and has foiled their plots.
According to the report, published Friday, March 5, the targets included the strategic Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline, Israel’s embassy in Azerbaijan, a leader of the Jewish religious community and the Ashkenazi synagogue in Baku.
Azerbaijani outlets said the operatives’ ultimate aim was to spread fear and damage the country’s international reputation.
Reports said the group had smuggled three explosive devices into Azerbaijan, which security forces later neutralized.
The report was published one day after an Iranian drone strike on Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan region left four people wounded. According to official statements from Baku, one drone struck the terminal building of Nakhchivan Airport, while another crashed near a school building in the village of Shakarabad.
Iranian officials denied responsibility for the attack and instead blamed Israel.
Since the current war began, Iran has targeted at least 12 countries in the region, according to the report.
Azerbaijani media further reported that two Iranian citizens, Behnam Sahebali Rostamzadeh and Yaser Rahim Zandekian, established criminal contacts with Azerbaijani citizen Tarkhan Tarlanoglu Guliyev to smuggle an explosive device into the country.
Investigators later discovered a container abandoned on Zandekian’s instructions in Baku’s Sabail district. A search found 7.73 kilograms of C-4 explosive, intended for destroying infrastructure and concrete structures.
Guliyev and another man, Nijat Zamanoglu Aghayev, later retrieved the container and concealed the explosives in a military district of Baku.
Authorities said additional Iranian and Azerbaijani nationals were also identified as participants in the alleged plots.
Following the recent drone strike on Nakhchivan, relations between Baku and Tehran have again grown tense. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry described Iran’s denial of responsibility as “unacceptable” and demanded accountability and an official apology.
President Ilham Aliyev also warned that “the dishonorable individuals who carried out this terrorist act will regret it.”
Security investigators said Iranian nationals linked to Azerbaijani citizens in the case had direct ties to the IRGC, in addition to involvement in drug trafficking networks.
According to Azerbaijani media, an Iranian citizen identified as Sajjad Moghadam Sheikhzadeh had received assignments from the IRGC to prepare assassination plots targeting Jewish residents of Azerbaijan.
Investigators named Ali-Asghar Bardbar Sharamini, a senior IRGC intelligence officer, as the planner and coordinator of the operations. Another Iranian national, Hafez Tavassoli, was said to have coordinated activities on the ground.
Azerbaijani media reported that several Iranian nationals, including Zandekian, Rostamzadeh and Sheikhzadeh, have been placed on international wanted lists for their alleged roles in gathering intelligence and organizing sabotage aimed at destabilizing society and spreading fear.
Several Azerbaijani citizens have also been sentenced to prison in connection with the case.
