Iran's Plans for Terrorist Attacks in Azerbaijan Uncovered
In a series of comprehensive counterintelligence operations, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan has thwarted terrorist provocations and intelligence gathering activities planned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a special service organ of the Islamic Republic of Iran, within Azerbaijan.
As reported by Trend, the targets chosen to sow panic in society and damage the international image of our country included a strategic facility—the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan, a leader of the Mountain Jewish religious community, and the Ashkenazi Synagogue. Three explosive devices were smuggled into the country.
The aforementioned explosive devices have been neutralized.
Operational and investigative measures were organized to identify strategic facilities and targets of interest to Iranian intelligence services in our country, as well as individuals collaborating with them.
It was revealed that Iranian citizens Rustamzada Behnam Sahibali and Zandkian Yaser Rahim, in a preliminary conspiracy, established criminal ties with Guliyev Tarkhan Tarlan oglu to smuggle an explosive device into the country. A container, left on the instructions of Iranian citizen Zandkian Yaser Rahim near the Shihovo settlement in the Sabail district, was discovered. Upon inspection, the container was found to contain 7 kg 730 g of the explosive substance 'C-4,' intended for the destruction of facilities and concrete structures. Through operational footage by the State Security Service (SSS), it was established that Tarkhan Guliyev, along with Agayev Nidjat Zaman oglu, arrived by car, retrieved the container, and in the following days hid the explosive device in the Nizami district of Baku.
Later, it became known that, on the orders of Iranian citizen Azarundbileh Hossein Savar Saber, who has direct ties to the IRGC, another container with an explosive device was smuggled into the country. Inside were two remotely controlled explosive devices of the 'C-4' type. Azerbaijani citizen Abdullayev Asad Tofiq oglu, with whom criminal ties had been pre-established, arrived at the cache and retrieved the container. As this was known in advance, the storage location was equipped with hidden video surveillance by the SSS for documentation. The next day, it was established that Rashad Rustamov and Asad Abdullayev together retrieved the container from a known cache in the Shykhlar settlement of the Gobustan district, in the Baglar area, and hid it near the house where Abdullayev resides. It was also determined that the Iranian citizens who established criminal ties with Azerbaijani citizens, in addition to drug smuggling, have direct connections to the IRGC.
Furthermore, a network of individuals with whom the IRGC maintained contact for gathering intelligence information, as well as planning terrorist diversions and assassinations on the territory of the Azerbaijani Republic, was identified. Iranian citizen Sheikhzade Sajjad Moghadam Sati Sofli Evad, who promised $50,000 USD to an individual tasked with planting an explosive device under a bridge in the Sangachal settlement of the Garadagh district of Baku, was searching for an executor. It also became known that S. Sheikhzade received special assignments from the IRGC to prepare plans for assassinations targeting individuals of Jewish origin residing in the Azerbaijani Republic.
Previously, the IRGC failed to locate three explosive devices because the individuals entrusted with them severed contact with the organizers. Consequently, on the initiative of Iranian citizen Hafez Tavassoli, the delivery of another explosive device was arranged. Near the Shipbuilding Plant in the Garadagh district of the capital, an explosive device weighing 1,280 grams was discovered. The blast radius of this device is 250–300 meters. Identified as a coordinating agent of the IRGC, Hafez Tavassoli contacted Azerbaijani citizen Agayeva Khadija Zakir gyzy and asked her to store a package at her place for two days. After receiving it, the Azerbaijani citizen hid it in a cache in the Masazir settlement in the following days. After Khadija Agayeva noticed an unknown person arrive on a motorcycle and take the package, she reported this to H. Tavassoli. After H. Agayeva left the explosive substance at a pre-agreed location in the Masazir settlement, on the orders of Sajjad Sheikhzade Moghadam Sati Sofli Evad, Akhmedov Elvin Bakhruz oglu retrieved the explosive device and hid it near his home in the Bilajari settlement.
Simultaneously, Iranian citizen Hafez Tavassoli contacted Azerbaijani citizen Shabanova Narmina Ramiz gyzy with the intent of carrying out an assassination of a public figure. She was instructed to go to the address where the public figure works, take photographs of the location and the individual, and follow instructions from the IRGC regarding meeting a foreign citizen sent to Azerbaijan through a third country to commit the murder, arranging accommodation for the arriving person in a hotel, and searching for weapons and a vehicle to carry out the crime. At this point, Ismiyev Naib Agaismi oglu informed Narmina Shabanova that he was ready to commit the murder of the public figure for a reward of 80,000 manats. In connection with this, N. Ismiyev visited the public figure’s workplace, recorded video footage on a mobile phone for planning the crime and a possible escape from the scene, and sent it to the criminal group member Narmina Shabanova. They also agreed on finding and acquiring firearms and other means to commit the crime, thereby preparing for the assassination attempt on the public figure’s life.
As a result of preemptive urgent operational and investigative measures conducted by the State Security Service, these particularly grave crimes were prevented. Thus, Guliyev Tarkhan Tarlan oglu, Agayev Nidjat Zaman oglu, Abdullayev Asad Tofiq oglu, Rustamov Rashad Farkhad oglu, Agayeva Khadija Zakir gyzy, Akhmedov Elvin Bakhruz oglu, Shabanova Narmina Ramiz gyzy, and Ismiyev Naib Ismikhan oglu confessed to the committed acts, as well as to retrieving explosive devices and carrying out assignments related to assassination plans on the orders of individuals linked to the IRGC.
It was also established that the person directly involved in organizing terrorist acts against our country is an officer of the IRGC intelligence organization, Colonel Ali Asgar Bordbar Sheramini.
Iranian citizens Zandkian Yaser Rahim, Rustamzada Behnam Sahibali, Azarundbileh Hossein Savar Saber, and Sheikhzade Sajjad Moghadam Sati Sofli Evad, implicated in gathering intelligence information and organizing terrorist diversions to destabilize the situation and create panic among the population, have been placed on an international wanted list.
During the operational and investigative measures, decisions were also made regarding Azerbaijani citizens involved in criminal activities. Thus, Guliyev Tarkhan Tarlan oglu, Agayev Nidjat Zaman oglu, Abdullayev Asad Tofiq oglu, and Rustamov Rashad Farkhad oglu were found guilty under relevant articles of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 6 years and 6 months of imprisonment.
Shabanova Narmina Ramiz gyzy and Ismiyev Naib Agaismi oglu were held criminally liable under Articles 28 and 277 (preparation for an assassination attempt on the life of a state or public figure) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijani Republic, while Akhmedov Elvin Bakhruz oglu was charged under Article 228.2.1 (illegal acquisition, transfer, storage, transportation, and carrying of weapons, their components, ammunition, explosives, and devices, committed by a group of persons in preliminary conspiracy). A court-ordered measure of arrest was applied to them. Materials collected by the Investigative Department of the SSS have been submitted to the court.
Comprehensive investigative and operational measures to identify individuals planning terrorist diversions and assassinations on the territory of the Azerbaijani Republic on the orders of foreign intelligence services, as well as those collaborating with them, are ongoing.
