The Mossad, the IDF, and the Shin Bet published a statement on Monday announcing their exposure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ secret terror unit and also revealed that Israeli security forces recently thwarted a complex terror network in Azerbaijan that was actively planning attacks against Jews and Israel in the area.

Azerbaijani security authorities arrested the members of the terror unit, who were directed by Iran and were planning attacks against strategic Jewish and Israeli targets, including the internal BTC oil pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) that runs through Georgia and Turkey, and carries about a third of Israel’s oil imports. The terror unit was also actively planning terror attacks against a number of Jewish targets and institutions in the country, including the Israeli embassy, shuls in Baku, and leaders of the Jewish community.

During the arrests, the authorities found the suspects in possession of cluster bombs and explosive drones they had smuggled into the country. The suspects, who were receiving direct instructions from Iran, had been gathering information on their targets, including through physical surveillance and photography.

The arrest of the suspects played a part in the exposure of Iran’s secret terror unit operated by the IRGC and its chain of command. Many of the unit’s top-ranking officials were eliminated during Operation Roaring Lion, which marked a turning point in countering Iranian terrorism, as the Air Force—guided by Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence—struck at the core of the organization’s command structure. In addition to the series of assassinations, the Mossad and its partners in security and law‑enforcement agencies worldwide carried out widespread arrests and interrogations of terror cell members operating on behalf of the terror unit around the world.

Rahman Mokadam, who served as head of the Special Operations Division (Unit 4000) of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence department, was one of those who was eliminated, at the start of Operation Roaring Lion.

Unit 4000, which he led, was responsible for promoting terror operations outside Iran’s borders against Israeli and Western targets, as well as attempting to smuggle advanced weapons into Israel.

In his role, Mokadam advanced the network’s terror efforts worldwide in recent years. This activity included recruiting and training terror operatives inside and outside Iran to gather intelligence on Israeli political leaders, members of Israel’s security community, military sites, ports, and Israeli vessels in Israel and abroad.

Mohsen Suri, a senior figure in the network and a high‑ranking official in Unit 4000 who served under Mokadam, was also eliminated during Operation Roaring Lion at an “safehouse” where he was hiding along with other Revolutionary Guard personnel.

He played a significant role in missions outside Iran, traveling and meeting with terror cells in various countries and directing them in carrying out terror attacks.

Other Revolutionary Guard officers also operated in Europe, the Middle East, and Azerbaijan, including Mahdi Yekeh‑Dehghan, known as “The Doctor,” who led terror efforts in Azerbaijan and Turkey. He was also eliminated during Operaton Roaring Lion.

Dehghan became known at the beginning of the year, when Turkish authorities arrested a terror cell, including an Iranian national, who was working on behalf of Iran. Dehghan directed the cell, which attempted to smuggle explosive drones from Iran to Turkey to Cyprus, and gathered intelligence on the troops at the U.S. Air Force’s Incirlik base in Adana.

The joint statement added that “surveillance missions targeting Western bases have been exposed in the past, for example, during Operation Rising Lion, when Azerbaijani nationals were arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence on Israeli targets and military bases in Cyprus and Crete.”

The statement said that “Operation Roaring Lion prompted the IRGC to escalate its aggression in the region and expand efforts to activate terror cells abroad to carry out attacks. Within this framework, the members of the terror unit work in coordination with allied groups such as pro-Iranian militias in Iraq to carry out attacks.”

“Despite Iran’s strategy of viewing terror activity as a complementary arm to its offensive military efforts against Israel, the disruption of terror networks has challenged its ability to use this tool effectively. The exposure of Iran’s terror networks repeatedly demonstrates its inability to sustain plausible deniability, and signals the breakdown of its core operational doctrine—built on carrying out attacks through proxies in order to obscure responsibility and avoid diplomatic, legal, and economic repercussions,” the statement concluded.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)