Iran International:

Iran attempted to pay a Georgian drug trafficker $200,000 to assassinate a Jewish religious leader in Azerbaijan, according to security officials cited by The Washington Post.

The operation, coordinated by the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is part of what officials described as Tehran’s growing use of criminal proxies for targeted killings abroad.

“The [Iranian] officer handed Aslanov a photo of a prominent Jewish figure in Azerbaijan and detailed instructions on how to kill him,” one official said. “Aslanov agreed to kill Rabbi Shneor Segal for a price tag of $200,000.”

According to the Western and Middle Eastern security officials, the plot—thwarted by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service in early January—also included plans to target an educational center.

Aslanov and a local accomplice were arrested and charged with conspiracy to carry out a terrorist act, as stated by the State Security Service and reported in local media at the time.

The officials said the operation was arranged by Mohammad Golkari, an Iranian national with longstanding ties to organized crime, who helped coordinate Aslanov’s meeting with Quds Force operatives in Iran. After receiving instructions and the target's photo, Aslanov returned to Baku and recruited Azerbaijani citizen Jeyhun Ismayilov to assist with surveillance.

It is not the first such Iranian attack to be foiled in Azerbaijan. In 2023, then Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Iran was responsible for a foiled plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan.

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