Azerbaijan Jails 22 in Alleged Iran-Backed Terror Plot

Posted October 9th, 2012 at 8:50 am (UTC-5)
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A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced 22 people to lengthy prison terms for assisting Iran in allegedly plotting terrorist attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in the country.

The defendants received sentences Tuesday ranging from 10 to 15 years after authorities accused them of planning attacks in cooperation with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Targets for the attack were to include the U.S. and Israeli embassies.

Authorities said the defendants had received weapons and training after being recruited, beginning in 1999.

Azerbaijan revealed the allegations and arrests in March.

The Iranian government has not commented on the sentencing.

Iran has a large ethnic Azeri minority and is apprehensive of Azerbaijan's influence over it. Relations between the neighboring countries have been strained over a number of issues.