JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Mossad, IDF, and Shin Bet  revealed on Monday that a terror network operating in Azerbaijan under Iranian direction had been foiled.

According to the statement, the network planned to target the oil pipeline running through Georgia and Turkey (the BTC pipeline), as well as several Jewish and Israeli targets in the country, including the Israeli embassy, a synagogue in Baku, and leaders of the local Jewish community.

Members of the operational cell were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities while in possession of explosive drones and fragmentation devices that had been smuggled into the country. The cell members had been gathering intelligence on their targets, including through physical surveillance and photography.

Israel’s intelligence community also revealed today the full structure of the covert terror apparatus of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The exposure followed a series of assassinations carried out by the Israeli Air Force during the “Roar of the Lion” war against senior figures in the network, alongside intensive operations by the Mossad and its partners in global security and law enforcement agencies. These efforts culminated in widespread arrests and interrogations of terror cells operating on behalf of the apparatus around the world.

At the head of the network was Rahman Moqaddam, who also served as head of the Special Operations Division (Unit 4000) within the IRGC’s intelligence organization. He was eliminated by the Israeli Air Force at the beginning of the Roaring Lion campaign.
Unit 4000, which he led, was responsible for promoting terror operations outside Iran against Israeli and Western targets, as well as for attempts to smuggle advanced weapons into Israeli territory.

In recent years, Moqaddam advanced the organization’s global terror efforts, including recruiting and training operatives in Iran and abroad. This activity aimed to gather intelligence on Israeli political leaders, members of the Israeli security community, as well as military sites, ports, and Israeli vessels both in Israel and worldwide.

Operating under his command was Mohsan Souri, a senior figure in Unit 4000 and a key operative in the network. He was also killed during the war in a safehouse along with other IRGC members. As part of his operational role — like other operatives in the covert terror network — Souri played a significant part in activities outside Iran, taking part in multiple operational cycles during which he met with local terror cells and directed them in carrying out missions on the ground.

Alongside Souri, other IRGC officers operated across Europe, the Middle East, and Azerbaijan, including Mehdi Yakah-Dehghan, known as “the Doctor,” who led terror efforts in Azerbaijan.

Dehghan has been known since earlier this year following the arrest of an operational network in Turkey that, under his direction, smuggled explosive drones from Iran into Turkey and from there to Cyprus, while collecting intelligence on the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik in Adana.

According to the Mossad, the Roaring Lion campaign has led to further escalation in Iranian aggression in the region, including efforts to expand its capabilities.
It is also known that members of this network cooperate with additional actors, such as pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, in carrying out planned attacks.