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A chilling Iranian assassination plot was thwarted earlier this year, targeting an Azerbaijani rabbi.
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FOILED PLOT
(קרדיט: ILTV)
According to The Washington Post, Iran’s Quds Force recruited a Georgian drug dealer to carry out the killing.
The plan was set in motion last fall, with Iran reportedly offering $200,000 to murder Rabbi Shenor Segal and attack an educational center.
The recruited drug dealer, Agil Aslanov, then enlisted a local accomplice and began monitoring the rabbi’s movements. But Azerbaijan’s State Security Service uncovered the plan in time, arresting both men in January. They have since been charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
Authorities say Aslanov transmitted sensitive details about the rabbi’s location to a foreign intelligence agency using encrypted messaging apps. While Segal wasn’t named in official statements, local media confirmed he was the intended target. Segal said he only learned of the plot after it broke in the news. Still, Segal insists he feels safe.
The incident comes on the heels of another shocking attack: the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates late last year. Three Uzbek nationals were recently sentenced to death for the crime, though Iranian involvement in that case remains unclear.
Israeli intelligence continues to uncover Iranian plots around the world, as Tehran's proxies attempt to target Israelis and Jews through abductions, cyberattacks, and espionage.