Iranian Plot to Assassinate Shliach in Azerbaijan Foiled

A plot to assassinate Rabbi Shneur Segal, shliach to Baku, Azerbaijan, was recently uncovered and thwarted by local authorities, according to a recent report by The Washington Post.

Rabbi Shneur Segal, who serves as Shliach to the Jewish community of Baku, Azerbaijan, was unknowingly targeted by Iranian operatives linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force. According to The Washington Post, a Georgian drug trafficker met with Iranian officials last fall and was given detailed instructions for carrying out the assassination.

Upon returning to Baku, the drug trafficker recruited a local Azerbaijani accomplice. The two gathered information about Rabbi Segal’s residence and workplace, sharing these details with Iranian handlers through a mobile app.

Both suspects were promised $200,000 by Iranian operatives in exchange for executing the planned attack.

Azerbaijan’s State Security Service uncovered the plot early, arresting both individuals in January 2025 and charging them with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.

This incident comes after an Iranian-supported Iraqi militant organization was suspected of planning terror attacks on Jewish centers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on Chof Av of this past year, and follows the assassination of Shliach Rabbi Tzvi Kogan in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The individuals responsible, who were recently sentenced to death, were directed by Iran.

Rabbi Segal, who learned about the plot from local Azerbaijani media, told The Washington Post that he feels secure in Azerbaijan. “We live here peacefully,” Rabbi Segal said. “I walk the streets without fear.”