Overview
- Israeli intelligence agencies, in a rare joint statement Monday, said they exposed a covert IRGC unit that directed overseas plots after Azerbaijani arrests uncovered an armed cell.
- The cell in Azerbaijan had explosive drones and fragmentation charges and scoped targets under orders from Iran, including the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline and Israeli and Jewish sites in Baku.
- Investigators said the arrests helped trace the network’s hierarchy, with senior figures Rahman Moqaddam and Majid Khademi, as well as operative Mohsen Suri, later killed in Israeli airstrikes during a campaign that began February 28.
- Israeli findings describe smuggling routes that moved explosive drones from Iran through Turkey to Cyprus, along with reconnaissance on U.S. forces at Incirlik Air Base in Adana.
- Azerbaijan detained at least seven nationals linked to the plots, European states have tightened security as probes expand, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment, while officials warn any strike on the BTC line could disrupt a key energy corridor.