Israel’s foreign minister accused Tehran of being behind a foiled plot against the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, as the Israeli defense minister flew to Baku amid rapidly expanding ties between the two countries.
“Iranian terror is a global threat, as we saw in the past few days in Azerbaijan in an attempted attack against the Israeli embassy in Baku, as well as in recent months in Cyprus and Greece in attempted attacks against Israelis and Jews,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohensaid said on July 12 during a visit to Serbia.
Iranian officials did not immediately comment on Cohen’s allegations, which came two days after Azerbaijan’s State Security Service reported the arrest of “a man from Afghanistan” accused of conspiring with “other individuals” to carry out a “terrorist act” against a foreign embassy in Baku. It said the suspect, identified as Fawzan Mosa Khan, was born in 1990.
The Islamic Republic and Israel are arch-enemies, and Iranian officials have vowed the destruction of the Jewish state.
Last month, Israel’s Mossad spy service said it had conducted an operation inside Iran to capture the head of an alleged Iranian hit squad that planned to kill Israelis in Cyprus.
And Greek authorities announced in March the arrest of two men suspected of planning an attack on a Jewish restaurant in Athens, a plot which Israel said was orchestrated from Iran.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s expanding relationship with Israel has infuriated Iranian officials. Israel is one of Azerbaijan’s leading arms suppliers and buys one-third of its oil from the Shia-majority country.
Late on July 12, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant flew to Baku for talks with Azerbaijan’s president and defense minister that will focus on bolstering strategic ties in “diplomacy, security and technology,” according to Israel’s Defense Ministry.
Baku and Tehran have often had strained relations, with Azerbaijan accusing the Islamic Republic of trying to destabilize its north-western neighbor. Azerbaijan also criticizes Iran for allegedly backing Armenia in the long-standing conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In January, Azerbaijan halted the operation of its embassy in Tehran after what it called a "terrorist attack" that killed the diplomatic mission’s head of security and wounded two others. Baku blamed the attack on the Iranian secret services.
In turn, Tehran has long accused Baku of fueling separatist sentiments among its sizable ethnic Azeri minority. The Islamic Republic also fears that Azerbaijani territory could be used for a possible attack against Iran by Israel.
Amid heightened tensions between Azerbaijan and its southern neighbor, Baku opened an embassy in Israel in March, and President Isaac Herzog visited the Azerbaijani capital in May.
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