Azerbaijan arrests 22 suspects in alleged Iran spy plot

BAKU. March 14. KAZINFORM The authorities in Azerbaijan have arrested 22 people on suspicion of spying for Iran, accusing them of links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, according to BBC.

The undated arrests were confirmed in a brief statement by the Azerbaijani national security ministry.

Azerbaijani TV reported last month that a plot to attack the Israeli embassy and a Jewish centre had been foiled.

At the time, Iran was also suspected of attacking Israeli targets in Thailand, India and Georgia.

It was not immediately clear on Wednesday if these were new arrests, or official confirmation of those made in February.

However, according to Contact, a non-government Azerbaijani news website supported by the US National Endowment for Democracy, the arrests took place between late January and 20 February.

Contact said the detainees were being charged with treason and illegal possession of weapons.

It added that they were "not the first group of individuals... arrested recently in Azerbaijan on charges of working for the Iranian secret services".

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