Report: Iranian national arrested 'walking' by Israeli embassy
Iran's media report Iranian man is held, tortured in Azeri prison after caught walking near Israeli embassy in Baku. Iranian, Azeri embassies deny allegations
An Iranian national was jailed in Azerbaijan after he was arrested for walking by the Israeli embassy in Baku.
On Monday, the Iranian news outlet Press TV reported that the Iranian national is being tortured by Azeri security forces.
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A relative of Hassan Faraji, the Iranian national held by the Azeris, told Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) that he is being held in Binagadi prison and that he is being tortured by Azeri security in the hope that he will reveal information about his acts near the Israeli embassy.
According to an informed source that was interviewed by Press TV, the Iranian embassy in Baku has requested access to Faraji. Azerbaijan's government has refused the request, claimed the source. Representatives of the Azeri embassy in Iran said they have no information about the arrest.
The Press TV report carried a response by Seyyed Mohammad Ayatollahi, an official with the Iranian embassy in Baku, who rejected the claims put forth by the ISNA report.
In March 2012, Azerbaijan exposed a network of Iranian operatives who were planning on attacking the Israeli and American embassies in Baku.
The Azeri security forces reported at the time the arrests of more than 40 suspects. According to Azerbaijan, the suspects operated based on instructions from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and were planning on hitting Western embassies.
Azerbaijan, a Shiite Muslim country with excellent ties to Israel, has been mentioned several times as a place where Iran and Hezbollah might attempt to attack Israeli and Jewish targets. At the beginning of 2012, a plot to assassinate then Israeli ambassador, Michael Lotem, was thwarted.
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