Media Reports Israel Established Secret Base in Iraq to Strike Iran

(MENAFN) Israel secretly constructed a clandestine military outpost deep in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran — and launched strikes on Iraqi troops who came dangerously close to uncovering it, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials familiar with the operation.

The covert base was established shortly before Washington and Tel Aviv launched their joint military campaign against Iran in late February. US officials were reportedly aware of the installation, which housed Israeli special forces, functioned as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force, and maintained search-and-rescue teams on standby in the event that Israeli pilots were shot down over hostile territory.

The outpost nearly unraveled in early March when a local shepherd spotted unusual helicopter activity and alerted authorities. Iraqi soldiers dispatched to investigate the site were met with heavy fire — an assault that left one soldier dead and two others wounded. Baghdad initially pointed the finger at Washington after security forces recovered evidence of foreign military personnel operating in the area.

"It appears there was a certain force on the ground before the strike, supported from the air, operating beyond the capabilities of our units," Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, told Iraqi state media. "This reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval."

The forward base proved strategically vital, giving Israeli forces a launching pad far closer to Iranian territory — which lies more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Israel. Israeli aircraft conducted thousands of strikes over the five-week campaign, with the Iraqi desert outpost serving as a critical forward position throughout.

The IDF declined to comment on the report, which intensifies scrutiny over how Israel's confrontation with Iran has steadily escalated into a broader regional conflict — drawing Washington ever deeper into the hostilities.

Former US counterterrorism chief Joe Kent, who resigned in protest in March, has leveled sharp accusations at Israel, charging that it maneuvered Washington into a war despite US intelligence assessments concluding that Tehran was not actively developing a nuclear weapon. Kent alleged that US agencies had explicitly warned that Iran would retaliate by targeting American military bases and attempting to choke off the Strait of Hormuz if attacked — warnings he says were ultimately overridden by the Israeli narrative on the Iranian threat.

Trump administration officials have forcefully rejected the characterization that Israel pulled America into the conflict. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth stated this week that President Donald Trump acted solely on the basis of "American interests" and his "America First" policy, dismissing suggestions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had drawn the US into the war as a "false premise."

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