Location: Uchtapa, Jalilabad District, Azerbaijan 

During the events of Operation Kemmel in November, SIGINT detected a satellite phone being used to contact known Azearian State (AS) devices.

Following the rescue of ambassador Thatch, and the elimination of the Wagner group cell attempting to escape with him, SSE conducted by TF45 operators failed to find this satellite phone on any of the dead. Further electronic surveillance showed the device and its user moved out of the region immediately after Thatch’s recovery.

The device then went dark for 36 hours until it pinged again at Qabala International Airport, Azerbaijan where it made a call to a location in Tabriz inside northern Iran. Continued monitoring was re-established at Baku in eastern Azerbaijan on the coast of the Caspian Sea. HUMINT has tentatively identified the user as Mahdi Shah, an Iranian national with links to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (VAJA).

Baku has become a hotbed of AS transit over the last 2 years with several high ranking financiers and fixers setting up residence in the region to assist with AS establishment following the death of Akhmed Basayev, leader of the Azearian Front of Dagestan (AFD) in February 2024.

Both London and Washington are deeply concerned about a developing link between the Azerian State and Iran. With the situation in the Middle East deteriorating rapidly, this new expansion poses a clear threat to global security. 

As of 24 hours ago the device and its user were tracked from Baku to Uchtapa, Jalilabad District, in the mountains along the north eastern Iranian border.

Further intelligence has located several AS HVI’s in or around the same area and the goal is a suspected meeting between AS and a member of Iranian intelligence. TF45 are to be deployed covertly into the local area to locate and identify this meeting with the aim of confirming key players and the intention of the covert rendezvous.