Investigators believe that a bombing was weeks away when the suspects spotted the surveillance in early May 2008. Police moved in, but a number of Lebanese, Iranian and Azerbaijani suspects escaped by car into Iran, anti-terrorism officials assert.
The court charges in Baku are consistent with information gathered by Israel about the alleged plot, another Israeli official said, declining to comment on details.
In conversations with Azerbaijani authorities, Iranian representatives denied any role, Western anti-terrorism officials said. But at a preliminary hearing in Baku this week, charges against the six suspects included the allegation that they had ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the elite force that is said to work closely with Hezbollah.
The investigation implicated senior officers of the Revolutionary Guard in the plot, the anti-terrorism officials say. Karaki identified a Revolutionary Guard official named Fadhli as his contact in Iran and described bringing militants to Iran for training, officials say.
Some experts believe that an attack remains inevitable because of Mughniyah's importance to both Hezbollah and Iran. The risk is greatest for Israeli and Jewish targets in U.S.-allied Arab nations, Latin America, Central Asia and Africa, the Israeli security official said.
As Hezbollah runs a strong campaign for the June 7 elections in Lebanon, tensions have flared with arrests of an alleged Hezbollah cell in Egypt and of suspected Israeli spies in Lebanon. Hezbollah warned recently that Israel is preparing to kill Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the organization's secretary-general.
The loss of Mughniyah's expertise damaged Hezbollah's ability to pull off the kind of attack that would match his dramatic demise, Israeli officials say.
But the militant group may also be biding its time, Ranstorp said: "Hezbollah has said it will decide on its own timetable what to do."
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rotella@latimes.com
