Israel, during its war with Iran, secretly stationed elite military and intelligence units in Azerbaijan that participated in reconnaissance operations and drone control along the Islamic republic's northern border. This was reported by CNN, citing informed sources.
According to the channel, Israel has deployed a network of secret bases in the Middle East, Africa and Transcaucasia. CNN sources said Israeli forces were operating near Iran's northern border, collecting intelligence and operating drones. This allowed Israel to monitor the situation in the north of the Islamic Republic and strike targets on its territory.
Israel and Azerbaijan maintain close ties in commercial and military interests. Baku supplies Israel with a significant portion of its oil, CNN writes. In return, Israel sells Azerbaijan modern weapons, some of which were used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts of 2016 and 2020. In addition, in 2016, Azerbaijan became the first foreign country to purchase the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system, CNN notes.
According to sources, one of the key operations carried out from the territory of Azerbaijan was the liquidation on March 4 of Rahman Moghaddam, who headed the intelligence department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, according to Israel, was involved in planning the assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump in 2024. A day later, Iranian drones struck an airport in the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan, damaging the terminal building and injuring several people.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev blamed Iran for the incident, calling it an “act of terror” that was “disgusting, cowardly and shameless.” Tehran has denied launching drones.
Additionally, on March 6, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said it had uncovered an IRGC plot to strike critical infrastructure as well as Israeli and Jewish targets. A few weeks later, Israel publicly admitted that this was a joint operation by the Mossad, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security service, CNN adds. At the same time, there is no official confirmation of the deployment of Israeli units in Azerbaijan.
“We strongly reject unsubstantiated allegations of the alleged use of Azerbaijani territory for operations against third countries,” a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Embassy in the United States told CNN.
According to CNN sources, in addition to Azerbaijan, Israel has many secret military facilities and bases in different countries. In particular, bases located in Iraq provided Israeli troops with “unprecedented territorial coverage” and the ability to conduct operations against Iran, CNN clarifies. In Iraq, Israel used two secret facilities for logistics and search and rescue operations. Somaliland, a state in Somalia in East Africa that is recognized only by Jerusalem, has provided Israeli forces with a military base for stopover aircraft. The Iron Dome air defense system battery and troops to support it have been deployed to the UAE, as first reported by Axios.
