20:35

An illegal armed group under the control of Iran's intelligence services is exposed

The State Security Service is conducting comprehensive investigative measures in connection with the cases of covert involvement of Azerbaijani citizens by Iranian special services in military exercises outside of the country, financing and directing their activities, keeping them in the sphere of influence through blackmail and other violent means in order to use them against the interests of state security of Azerbaijan.

In the course of operational investigations, it was established that the leadership of an illegal armed formation consisting of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, secretly established under the control of the Iranian special services by indoctrination with radical extremist religious ideas, was

assigned to Tohid Alim oglu lbrahimbayli, Rovshan Elchin oglu Asadov, Orkhan Kamran oglu Mammadov, Elshad Elchin oglu Hajiyev (Akram Hajizade) and others, against whom a preventive measure of detention was selected for similar crimes in 2018 by court order. They have been placed on an international wanted list and are now in hiding in Iran.

Over the past period, citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, mainly those with a criminal record for various crimes and who considered themselves members of an organization called the Movement for Muslim Unity, with the help of an illegal armed group, travelled through third countries to Tehran city, where their mobile phones and passports were seized, they were instructed to maintain discreet contacts and conspiracy, given religious monikers, and with forged documents flown on military transport planes to Damascus Syria. İn Syria they participated in military training, where they were trained in the use of various firearms and combat tactics, and each participant was given various sums of money after being issued receipts.

In the course of operational and investigative measures, 19 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose participation in military exercises conducted by illegal armed groups was established, were brought to the investigation. Numerous pieces of evidence were discovered about the illegal armed group and the military exercises organized by it, and various banned books and videos promoting radical religious extremist views against the idea of modern development and a secular state illegally brought to Azerbaijan were also identified and seized.

lskander Khani oglu Huseynov, Tural Safar oglu Hagverdiyev, Eltun Ali oglu Shukurov and others who had been previously convicted were detained and prosecuted under Articles 12.1, 279.1 (participation in armed formations not provided for by law) of the AR Criminal Code. In addition, materials about giving various assignments to members of the group by Rufullah Akhundzadeh, currently residing in Iran, and others were discovered. Orkhan Farman oglu Asadov, one of those who engaged members of the group to military exercises, was arrested while attempting a terrorist attack on the territory of a third country.

The investigation established a reasonable suspicion that Fagan Sadreddin oglu Mammadov, who also took part in the said military exercises, organized the distribution of T-shirts with religious slogans to participants in actions planned in some parts of the country, which were delivered to Azerbaijan in a vehicle belonging to the Iranian Embassy in the AR.

It was revealed that representatives of the security services in question blackmailed citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan with video footage of military exercises in which they participated in order to keep them under their influence, after disagreements arose between them over the former justifying the aggressive actions of Armenian armed formations.

At present, comprehensive investigative measures are ongoing.

The SSS emphasizes that citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan involved in any illegal armed groups will be subject to the most strict measures and face serious criminal liability, and warns them to promptly inform the country's security agencies about any form of influence by foreign intelligence services.