Another Iranian terrorist attempt foiled in Azerbaijan

A successful anti-terrorist operation, carried out by the Azerbaijani security service (DTX) foiled a terrorist attack on a member of the local religious community. Though the local media did not specify which "religious group" was targeted, according to the local sources, the intended target is a prominent member of the local Jewish community, very well-known in Azerbaijan and abroad (especially in Israel) for his efforts to promote and strengthen ties between Azerbaijan and Israel, where he was frequently quoted by various media outlets. Two suspects were apprehended near one of the Jewish centers: Georgian citizen Aslanov Aqil Göycə oglu and Azerbaijani citizen Ismayilov Ceyhun Sahin oglu.

According to the DTX, in September 2024, Aslanov, who was engaged in drug trafficking, visited a "foreign country," where he was approached by the local secret service. They provided Aslanov with photographs and details about a member of a certain "religious community" in Azerbaijan, offering him $200,000 for assassination. As part of the agreement, Aslanov was tasked with gathering and transmitting intelligence on the community member and his workplace. 

According to the local sources, the hit-squad was sent by the Iranians, presumably by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is responsible for most of the attacks abroad on Jews and Israelis, as well as on Iranian dissidents. In November last year, Mossad announced that the kidnapping and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE was perpetrated by an Uzbek terror cell, which was allegedly directed by Iran to maintain plausible deniability. The Unit 400 of the Quds Force of IRGC is the major recruiter of the foreign nationals (mostly criminals) for terrorist activity. 

According to the Begin-Sadat Center, Azerbaijan is one of the most frequent locations where the IRGC attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets. The highly experienced local national security service DTX foils the vast majority of such plots.

In 2004, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022, DTX neutralized and apprehended several mixed groups of terrorists, comprising both local and foreign citizens (Lebanese and Afghans, for example). Iran trained most of them to gather intelligence and carry out attacks on Israeli and, occasionally, other Western embassies. An Afghan citizen received a 10-year sentence in October 2024 for his attempt to attack the Israeli embassy in Baku in July 2023. He had several local accomplices, recruited by the IRGC, who were also apprehended.  

Azerbaijan is a preferable target for the IRGC due to its alliance with Israel. Most of the fuel in Israel comes from Azerbaijan, which also procures Israeli weapons, needed to guarantee its security from the hostile neighbors. In 2013 the now-late IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani created and named a special proxy organization for spreading Khomeinist ideology inside Azerbaijan, Hussainiyoun. Its purpose—to overthrow the secular Azerbaijani government, which Tehran calls a "Zionist proxy."