Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and Azerbaijani intelligence have neutralized a criminal group that planned a sabotage attack on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan natural gas pipeline. The group also targeted the Israeli embassy and a local synagogue in Baku, according to a joint statement by Mossad, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the Israeli Security Agency (Shabak).

Components for suicide drones and explosives were found among the detainees.

According to Israeli intelligence, during interrogation, the suspects confessed that they acted on the orders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to the statement, the group is part of a larger IRGC structure led by Rahman Makadam, head of the 4,000-strong special operations unit. The Israeli side claims that the activity was carried out with the knowledge of Majid Khademi, the head of IRGC intelligence. According to the IDF, both were killed during Operation “Roaring Lion” (February-April).

In addition, the statement notes IRGC officer Mehdi Yeha-Dehkan (“Doctor”), whom the Israeli side links to the transportation of drones through Turkish territory to Cyprus and the collection of information about the American Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.