On November 1, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan reported that an illegal armed group under the control of Iran's intelligence services was exposed. 

"The State Security Service is conducting comprehensive investigative measures in connection with the cases of covert involvement of Azerbaijani citizens by Iranian special services in military exercises outside of the country, financing and directing their activities, keeping them in the sphere of influence through blackmail and other violent means to use them against the interests of state security of Azerbaijan," the report added. "In the course of operational investigations, it was established that the leadership of an illegal armed formation consisting of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, secretly established under the control of the Iranian special services by indoctrination with radical extremist religious ideas, was assigned to Tohid Alim oglu lbrahimbayli, Rovshan Elchin oglu Asadov, Orkhan Kamran oglu Mammadov, Elshad Elchin oglu Hajiyev (Akram Hajizade) and others, against whom a preventive measure of detention was selected for similar crimes in 2018 by court order. They have been placed on an international wanted list and are now hiding in Iran," it added.

"Over the past period, citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, mainly those with a criminal record for various crimes and who considered themselves members of an organization called the Movement for Muslim Unity, with the help of an illegal armed group, traveled through third countries to Tehran city, where their mobile phones and passports were seized, they were instructed to maintain discreet contacts and conspiracy, given religious monikers, and with forged documents flown on military transport planes to Damascus Syria. İn Syria, they participated in military training, where they were trained in the use of various firearms and combat tactics. Each participant was given various sums of money after being issued receipts," the State Security Service stated.

According to the report, in the course of operational and investigative measures, 19 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose participation in military exercises conducted by illegal armed groups was established, were brought to the investigation. "Numerous pieces of evidence were discovered about the illegal armed group and the military exercises organized by it, and various banned books and videos promoting radical religious extremist views against the idea of modern development and a secular state illegally brought to Azerbaijan were also identified and seized," the message stated.

"The investigation established a reasonable suspicion that Fagan Sadreddin oglu Mammadov, who also took part in the said military exercises, organized the distribution of T-shirts with religious slogans to participants in actions planned in some parts of the country, which were delivered to Azerbaijan in a vehicle belonging to the Iranian Embassy in the AR [Republic of Azerbaijan]," the report emphasized.

"It was revealed that representatives of the security services in question blackmailed citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan with video footage of military exercises in which they participated to keep them under their influence after disagreements arose between them over the former justifying the aggressive actions of Armenian armed formations," the information concluded.

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