US Jewish Committee: Bravo to Azerbaijan

"The Azerbaijani government has shown unflinching courage and determination in dealing with the periodic terrorist machinations emanating from its southern neighbor," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who last visited Baku in July and met with President Ilham Aliyev. "Bravo to Azerbaijan for standing strong and setting an example for others on how to confront the scourge of international terrorism."

The 22 Azerbaijanis sentenced this week were originally arrested in March, and charged with assisting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in plots to attack the Israeli and U.S. embassies, and other targets in Baku.  The defendants received sentences ranging from three to 13 years imprisonment.

Baku has been an Iranian target for years. In 2007, Azerbaijan convicted 15 people in a foiled plot to attack several foreign targets in Baku, including the U.S. and British embassies.

And, also this year, individuals with links to Iran and Hezbollah, who were planning to attack foreign citizens in Azerbaijan, were arrested in February. A month earlier, Azerbaijan foiled an Iranian plan to kill two rabbis and the Israeli ambassador in Baku. That plot coincided with the foiled Iranian attempt on the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the car bombing of an Israeli diplomatic vehicle in New Delhi, India. -25D-