On April 6, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service, and the General Prosecutor's Office released a joint video where they said that the resistance group members created for establishing the "Karima" state in Azerbaijan had been arrested.

Based on the report, Rufulla Akhundzadeh and Bakhtiyar Bayramov, who reside in Iran and collaborate with the special services of that country, enticed Arif Jumshudov, a resident of Tartar district and took him into custody. It was noted that he was instructed to seize power by causing armed riots in the country and to create a resistance group to establish a "Karima" state governed by Sharia laws by forcefully changing the constitutional structure of Azerbaijan.

"Arif Jumshudov, based on assigned tasks, involved acquaintances around him who propagated religious radicalism - Tarzan Garashov, Sanan Mammadov, Khagani Mammadov, and Igbal Akhundov in this work. He conveyed the instructions of Rufulla Akhundzade and Bakhtiyar Bayramov to those people in the secret meetings he organized in his home. Rufulla Akhundzade enlisted the cooperation of Anar Isayev, a resident of Baku, and instructed him to organize a "resistance group" to establish the "Karim" state by causing riots in the country. Rufulla Akhundzade promised them high financial income, weapons, and all other necessary support for their organization and introduced Anar Isayev to Arif Jumshudov to work together. Detainees described themselves as "religious" in society and carried out propaganda in favor of Iran and religious radicalism on social networks, as well as in ceremonies where people gathered and fulfilled the tasks they received from abroad to undermine the traditions of tolerance formed in Azerbaijan," the report said.

It is mentioned in the information that the members of the gang at the same time organized the sale of drugs sent purposefully from Iran and spent the huge amount of money they got on promoting religious radicalism and financing other disruptive activities in Azerbaijan.

Notably, pro-Iran clerics have actively used the "Karima" state narrative against Azerbaijan. The expression of the state of Karima is used in the "Iftitah prayer," which is said to have been narrated by Muhammad ibn Osman al-Amri, one of the four special viceroys of Imam Mahdi and is recommended to be recited in the month of Ramadan. In that prayer, God wishes for a state of grace in which "Islam and Muslims will be glorified, and the dissidents and hypocrites will be humiliated." It is emphasized that in that state, people will be granted "the grace of this world and the hereafter." Religious literature states that this state will be founded by Imam Mehdi, who will appear after the "great gossip."

Read also:

Azerbaijan Sends Protest Note to Iran Amid Confrontation Between Baku and Tehran

Tehran Accuses Azerbaijan of Allying with Israel and Sends Note to Baku; Azerbaijan Harshly Responds

Tensions Grow Among Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Russia