Azerbaijan foiled several attacks plotted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a plan to sabotage a major oil pipeline running through the South Caucasus to Turkey, Baku stated on Friday.
The targets included the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, an Ashkenazi synagogue and a leader of an ancient Jewish community in Azerbaijan called the Mountain Jews, Reuters cited a report from state news agency Azertag as saying on Friday.
The BTC pipeline transports oil to the Port of Ceyhan in Turkey via Georgia. From there it is shipped to Europe and Israel, providing roughly a third of the Jewish state’s petroleum, according to Reuters.
On Thursday, Iranian drones hit an airport in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave and a nearby school, injuring four people, the report read.
Despite Tehran’s denial of involvement, the Azerbaijani government vowed to retaliate.
“This attack against the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan constitutes a violation of the norms and principles of international law and serves to increase tensions in the region,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.
Baku on Friday ordered the evacuation of its diplomats stationed in Iran, citing safety concerns.
