Azerbaijan arrests 22 alleged Iran spies

Azerbaijani authorities have detained 22 individuals suspected of spying for Iran and other crimes, government officials said Wednesday. The National Security Ministry said the suspects had been secretly cooperating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in "collecting and passing information that could harm Azerbaijan's security" and recruiting people for Iranian intelligence services, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. The suspects have been charged with high treason and illegal acquisition and storage of firearms and ammunition, the news agency said. It wasn't clear when the arrests took place. Azerbaijan said Feb. 22 it had uncovered a terrorist organization with links to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah. In January, the Azerbaijani government said it had broken up a terrorist plot against Israel's envoy in Baku that also allegedly had ties to Iran's intelligence services. Iran, in turn, has charged Azerbaijan with supporting those responsible for killing an Iranian nuclear scientist.