Israel's Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a joint statement Monday, revealing details of a foiled Iranian plot to attack the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan is one of the most strategically vital energy arteries connecting Central Asia to European markets. The statement also alleged a plot to target Jewish and Israeli targets in Azerbaijan.
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The agencies stated that "a few weeks ago, a terrorist infrastructure was thwarted in Azerbaijan that promoted attempts to harm a strategic target — the oil pipeline that runs through Georgia and Turkey (BTC) — as well as against a number of Jewish targets and institutions in the country, including the Israeli Embassy, the synagogue in Baku, and leaders of the Jewish community."
According to the statement, members of the operational cell were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities in possession of explosive drones and fragmentation devices that had been smuggled into the country.
In order to carry out their plans, the cell conducted intelligence-gathering on the targets using various methods, including physical surveillance and photography — all under the direction of their handlers directly from Iran, it claimed.
The plot was traced to Unit 4000 of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence, whose chief, Rahman Moqadam, managed the network and was killed at the start of the recent Israeli-US war against Iran, the Israeli agencies said. His superior, senior IRGC intelligence official Majid Khademi, was also killed during the conflict, the statement added.
Azerbaijani authorities discovered a container near the Shikhov settlement in Baku's Sabail district containing more than 7.7 kilograms of C-4 explosives, along with additional explosive devices in the Garadagh district, including a remote-controlled bomb capable of causing damage within a 250–300 metre radius, the Israeli agencies claimed.
The disclosure came roughly six weeks after Azerbaijan first announced the arrests in early March, amid a broader regional escalation.
The string of events underscored how the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began in late February had rippled across neighbouring regions, threatening energy infrastructure and raising the possibility of new fronts.
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Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced that Iranian-backed "terrorists" have targeted over 30 Israeli embassies since October 7, 2023, and that in the wake of the recent war, the IRGC has invested heavily in building "new terror cells" for attacks abroad. Saar said Iran "spreads chaos and terror throughout the world."
The timing of Monday's announcement coincided with US-Iran negotiations upcoming on Tuesday.
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