Azerbaijan accuses IRGC of planning terrorist attacks and intelligence gathering

Azerbaijan's State Security Service (SSS) prevented planned terrorist provocations and intelligence gathering orchestrated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The alleged targets included a strategic oil pipeline, the Israeli embassy, a religious community leader, and an Ashkenazi synagogue.

Key points

• The SSS discovered an explosive device weighing 1,280 grams near a shipyard in Baku's Garadagh district.
• The planned attacks also targeted the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan strategic oil pipeline and the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan.
• Three explosive devices were found and defused on Azerbaijani territory.
• Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi stated Tehran is in contact with Baku and is investigating the incident, denying Iranian involvement.
• Azerbaijan previously closed its airspace for 12 hours following an Iranian drone attack on an airport in Nakhchivan on March 5.

Why it matters

This event represents a significant escalation in security tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran, involving allegations of state-sponsored terrorism and intelligence operations on Azerbaijani soil.