Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (SSS) announced on Friday that it had prevented a series of planned terrorist and sabotage operations, as well as intelligence-gathering activities orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to a report aired by Azerbaijan Television (AzTV), the planned attacks targeted critical infrastructure and prominent figures in Azerbaijan. The identified targets included the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Israeli Embassy in Baku, a leader of the Mountain Jewish community, and an Ashkenazi synagogue, The Caspian Post reports.

The investigation revealed that Iranian nationals Behnam Sahibali Rustamzada and Yaser Rahim Zandkian established criminal ties with Azerbaijani citizen Tarhan Tarlan oglu Guliyev to smuggle explosive devices into the country. During a search operation, authorities discovered a container near the Shikhov settlement in Baku’s Sabayil district containing 7.73 kilograms of C-4 explosive.

Investigators also determined that two additional remote-controlled C-4 explosive devices had been brought into the country and hidden in different locations. Another device weighing 1.28 kilograms, with a blast radius estimated at 250-300 meters, was later found in the Garadagh district.

According to the SSS, the IRGC also planned the assassination of a public figure in Azerbaijan. Local collaborators were reportedly instructed to conduct surveillance of the target’s workplace, obtain firearms, and secure a vehicle for the operation.

As a result of preventive operational measures carried out by the State Security Service, the planned attacks were thwarted. Azerbaijani citizens Tarhan Tarlan oghlu Guliyev, Nijat Zaman oghlu Aghayev, Asad Tofig oghlu Abdullayev, and Rashad Farhad oghlu Rustamov were found guilty under relevant criminal articles and sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

Narmina Ramiz gizi Shabanova and Naib Aghismi oghlu Ismiyev have been charged with preparing an assassination attempt on a public figure, while Elvin Bahruz oglu Ahmadov faces charges related to the illegal possession of weapons and explosives. All three have been placed under arrest.

The investigation also established that an IRGC intelligence officer, Colonel Ali Asgar Bordbar Sheramini, was involved in organizing the planned attacks. International arrest warrants have been issued for Iranian citizens Yaser Rahim Zandkian, Behnam Sahibali Rustamzada, Hossein Savar Saber Azarundbileh, and Sajad Moghaddam Sati Sofi Evad.

The SSS stated that operational and investigative measures aimed at identifying terrorist and sabotage activities by foreign intelligence services in Azerbaijan are ongoing.