The Mossad, Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Shin Bet announced Monday they had exposed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-backed terror network that planned to bomb the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani authorities arrested at least seven nationals in March while the cell prepared to act. The suspects were found with explosive drones and smuggled munitions, along with surveillance material on the Israeli embassy in Baku and a local synagogue.
Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said the arrests had “prevented terrorist acts and intelligence operations organized by Iran’s IRGC.”
🚨 FOILED: IRAN-BACKED TERROR PLOT TARGETED ISRAELI AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE
The Mossad reveals that weeks ago, a terrorist network operating in Azerbaijan was stopped before carrying out major attacks.
Targets included the strategic BTC oil pipeline running through Georgia… pic.twitter.com/i0FgCpk9Fi
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) April 20, 2026
The BTC pipeline, which runs through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean, carries approximately 40% of Israel’s crude oil imports.
Rahman Moghadam, chief of IRGC Intelligence’s Special Operations Division 4000, a unit responsible for covert activity outside Iran, directed the network. He was killed during Operation Roaring Lion, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign launched February 28, 2026, along with his superior Majid Khademi. Key operator Mohsen Suri was killed in a strike on an IRGC safehouse.
Mahdi Yekeh-Dehghan, known as “the Doctor,” oversaw the network’s Azerbaijan operations. Turkish authorities identified him in January following the arrests of six people, including an Iranian national, on espionage charges. His cell smuggled explosive drones from Iran through Turkey to Cyprus and gathered intelligence on U.S. forces at Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
The agencies published their joint statement roughly six weeks after the Azerbaijani arrests, while U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations remained ongoing, placing the IRGC network’s documented command structure into the public record.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Monday that Iranian-linked operatives had targeted more than 30 Israeli diplomatic posts since October 7, 2023, including two recent drone attacks on Israeli officials in the United Arab Emirates.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar:
“Iran tried twice to strike Israeli personnel in the UAE during “Roaring Lion”, once with an explosive drone, once with an operational cell. Since the war began roughly two years ago, about 30 attacks and attempted attacks… pic.twitter.com/FhWyNLsJP3
— Jewish Breaking News (@JBreakingNews) April 20, 2026
“Iran spreads chaos and terror throughout the world,” Sa’ar said.
