AMU Homeland Security Intelligence Middle East Opinion Terrorism

Azerbaijan Arrests More Iranian ‘Spies’

By William Tucker

Authorities in Azerbaijan have recently released information related to the arrest of a further 22 Iranian spies. This is in addition to the two Azerbaijani citizens arrested for attempting to assassinate the Israeli ambassador in Baku. According to reports, these recently announced arrests actually took place from late January to late February. This coincides with the aforementioned assassination plot, however these individuals were reportedly taking orders from Tehran to engage in acts of terrorism against Western and Israeli targets. A connection between the two incidents is certainly likely, but information is scarce at this point. One further point of interest is Azerbaijan’s claim that these suspects were recruited as far back as 1999. This does make sense and simply means that they may not have been active until recently.

It’s not a surprise that Iran would use Azerbaijan as a launching pad to other parts of the world. What is surprising is that Iran would put so many assets in one location, especially in a country with which Tehran has strained relations. It is reasonable to assume that Iran has assets in other regions of the world and that these arrests are not the end of the world for Iranian operations. That being said, we can expect that Iran will try to improve their operational capabilities in short order otherwise their adversaries may smell blood in the water. From the looks of things Iran needs a victory and this incident certainly ups the ante for Tehran.

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