Israel in recent months exposed an Iranian terror network that targeted Israeli officials and assets around the world, according to a joint statement Monday by the Mossad, Israel Defense Forces, and Shin Bet.

Senior operatives in the network were killed during the US-Israeli campaign against Iran that began on February 28.

The Israeli statement said the network was uncovered following the arrests of several members of the network in Azerbaijan in March.

Azerbaijan said last month that it had foiled a series of Iranian terror attacks on its territory, including ones targeting the Israeli embassy in Baku, a synagogue and Jewish community leaders. At least seven Azeri nationals were arrested in connection with the probe.

In a statement, Azerbaijan’s state security service said at the time that it had “prevented terrorist acts and intelligence operations in Azerbaijan organized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”

Also among the planned targets was the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs through neighboring Georgia and Turkey and carries around a third of Israel’s oil imports, it said.

According to Monday’s Israeli statement, members of the cell had smuggled explosive drones into Azerbaijan and were gathering intelligence on potential targets under the direct instructions of their Iranian handlers.

The arrests of the cell members led to the uncovering of the terror network and its chain of........

© The Times of Israel