The Azerbaijani State Security Service reports the disclosure of an "Iranian spy network."

According to Azerbaijani media reports, "The State Security Service managed to establish that the captain of the Caspian Marine Oil Fleet vessel Zahir Askerov, receiving a religious education in Qom, entered into secret cooperation with representatives of the Iranian secret services. During the past period Askerov collected information on foreign companies and representative offices of foreign states in Azerbaijan, on the place and time of naval exercises in the Caspian Sea, on the cargoes delivered to oil platforms, passing the mentioned information through a cell phone and directly during meetings with his curators in Iran.

Another investigation revealed that citizen Elnur Rasulov, while in Iran in 2018, arranged for secret cooperation with Iranian intelligence services through two handlers who introduced themselves as "Meise" and "Doctor." Rasulov further involved his relative, Arif Rasulov, and together with him, through WhatsApp, photographed oil and gas pipeline sites in the Garadagh district of Baku, drones of the Defense Ministry and the State Border Service (SBS) at the airport, territory where tanks and various military equipment were stored at the Technofest festival in Baku, strategic and military facilities, anti-aircraft missile complexes, as well as other radar control facilities located in Baku, as well as in Salyan and Fizuli districts.

It was also found that another citizen of Azerbaijan, Bakhtiyar Aghazadeh was recruited by the Iranian special services while receiving a religious education in that country. At the request of his handlers Aghazadeh collected information on the missions of foreign states in Azerbaijan, the social and political processes taking place in the country, the military units, their deployment and appointments, including the command staff, and passed it on to the Iranian special services.

Citizen Mirhafiz Jafarzadeh, fulfilling the instructions of Orhan Mammadov, who has been on the international wanted list since 2018 and is now in hiding in Iran, transmitted the location of military installations and other information to the Iranian intelligence services via Telegram.

Zahir Askerov, Elnur Rasulov, Arif Rasulov, Mirhafiz Jafarzadeh and Bakhtiyar Aghazadeh were prosecuted under Article 274 (high treason) and arrested by court order.

The investigation revealed that Tohid Ibrahimbeyli, Orhan Mammadov, Elshad Hajiyev and others, acting on the orders of the Iranian secret services and hiding in Iran from criminal prosecution, created closed groups called "Discussions" and "Advertisements" in WhatsApp messenger, attracting Azerbaijani citizens there, and spread through these groups radical, religious-extremist ideas, contrary to the internationally recognized human rights, contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, intended to create a religious state in Azerbaijan.