Azerbaijan: Iranian Spy Sentenced to 15 Years

A court in Azerbaijan on Friday sentenced an alleged Iranian spy to 15 years in jail for plotting an attack on the Israeli embassy in the country, AFP reports.

Iranian citizen Bahram Feyzi, who was arrested by Azerbaijani security forces in March, was sentenced by the Baku Court on Grave Crimes, court officials said.

According to court documents, Feyzi, who was also found guilty of espionage and drug possession, was accused of being an agent of the secret service of neighboring Iran.

Baku and Tehran have somewhat tetchy relations, with Azerbaijani officials previously linking Iran to an alleged plot to stage a wave of attacks during the Eurovision song contest held in mainly Muslim, but officially secular, Azerbaijan in May 2012.

At least seven people have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms in connection with the alleged plot while 29 more are currently facing trial.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan enjoys warm relations with the United States and Israel and has become an increasingly important energy supplier to Europe.

There has been speculation in the past that Israel would use abandoned bases in Azerbaijan to launch strikes on Iran's nuclear program. This was later dismissed by the Azeri president.

In Feburary of 2012, authorities in Azerbaijan arrested a terrorist cell whose members belonged to the Hezbollah terror group and held Iranian passports.

The members of the terror cell were arrested on suspicion of planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Azerbaijan, but no details were provided on whether the terrorists specifically targeted Israeli civilians.

In January of that year, Azerbaijan officials said they uncovered an Iranian-linked Muslim gang that plotted to assassinate Chabad rabbis who teach at the Chabad Jewish school in Baku.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

By Elad Benari, Canada