Azerbaijan Thwarts Iranian Government's Plot to Assassinate a Jewish Leader

On Tuesday, January 25, the Republic of Azerbaijan announced that it had thwarted a plot by the Iranian government to assassinate a senior leader of the Jewish community in the country. According to the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, a Georgian citizen and a resident of Azerbaijan were arrested on suspicion of gathering information to execute this assassination plan. The two suspects were detained during a special operation by the Azerbaijani security forces. Aslanov, the Georgian citizen arrested, who is involved in drug trafficking, reportedly met with intelligence agents from a foreign country, likely the Islamic Republic of Iran, last year while traveling to a third country. This meeting is said to have been a precursor to planning and executing the assassination of this senior Jewish leader in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, a Shia-majority country, has very good relations with Israel, supplying about 30% of its oil needs. Israel, as a strategic ally of Azerbaijan, is a primary supplier of military equipment and some essential needs of the country. The Jewish community in Azerbaijan numbers around 30,000, and in recent years, thousands of Jews from this country have immigrated to Israel, strengthening ties between Azerbaijan and Israel. Meanwhile, the National Security Council of Jerusalem issued a warning on Tuesday about new efforts by the Islamic Republic to harm or kidnap Israelis abroad. According to this council, agents of the Islamic Republic recently intended to lure an Israeli businessman to Dubai by deceiving him through the messaging app 'Telegram' and pretending to be from a Saudi Arabian news agency, intending to harm him. The businessman informed Israeli authorities, and it was determined that this was a terrorist plot by the Islamic Republic.