The bilateral relationship between Azerbaijan and Iran has experienced significant deterioration following Baku’s recent announcement of the arrest of a minimum of nine of its citizens.
The arrested individuals are suspected of being linked to Iranian intelligence and are alleged to have been involved in the planning of coup attempts and assassinations. This development underscores the escalating tensions between the two nations.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijan's law enforcement forces arrested people who “were working for Iranian secret services,” the interior ministry, security service and the office of prosecutor general said in a joint statement.
The statement gave nine names and said several other people had been arrested.
The group was plotting a “violent overthrow of the government and the assassinations of prominent personalities and senior officials,” the statement said.
The wave of arrests follows the detention of six Azerbaijani nationals in a different case in April. They were accused of being “recruited by Iranian secret services to destabilize the situation in the country.”
Ties between neighbors Azerbaijan and Iran further soured in January when a gunman stormed into Baku's embassy in Tehran.
He killed a diplomat and wounded two embassy security guards.
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry blamed Iran for the shooting, a claim that the Iranian foreign ministry has rejected.
Meanwhile, senior officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden provided a classified briefing on the Iranian file to members of the Senate, amid escalating tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
The briefing, described as “confidential,” aimed to address concerns and provide insights on the current state of affairs related to Iran.
Months ago, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell had requested this briefing, arguing that the Iranian threat had “worsened under Biden's tenure.”
Participating in the classified briefing were senior officials from relevant departments and agencies, along with Deputy Special US Envoy for Iran, Robert Einhorn, representing Special Envoy Robert Malley, who was absent on leave.
