Months before the outbreak of war with Iran, Israel was quietly preparing a secret military and intelligence deployment network extending from the Caucasus to the Horn of Africa. As for the surprise revealed by CNN, it is that one of the most important bases of this network was inside Azerbaijan, only about 96 kilometers from the Iranian city of Tabriz.
According to a report by journalists Tal Shalev and Tim Lister on CNN, during the war, Israel deployed elite military and intelligence units in southern Azerbaijan, as part of a system of secret sites it established in a number of Middle Eastern countries to facilitate operations against Iran.
The report quoted 4 informed sources that Israeli forces operated from several locations near the northern border of Iran, while special commando units were deployed and carried out missions to collect intelligence information and operate drones, which gave Israel advanced surveillance capabilities inside northern Iran during the war.
The sources confirmed that the Azerbaijani sites were not the only ones, but rather formed part of a secret military network that also included Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Somaliland. These sites were initially established as potential bases for rescue and emergency operations, before being transformed into advanced military and intelligence centres.
According to the report, the Israeli deployment in Azerbaijan included dozens of members of the Israeli Special Forces, combat rescue units of the Air Force, and members of the Mossad.
On the other hand, the Azerbaijani embassy in Washington denied this information, stressing in a statement to CNN that it “categorically rejects unfounded allegations regarding the use of Azerbaijani lands to carry out operations against other countries.”
The report also revealed that Israel established an additional military site in Somaliland, which was used as a potential stopping point for Israeli aircraft on long flights towards Iran, months after Israel officially recognized the region and established relations between the two sides.
The sources also spoke about the presence of two secret Israeli military facilities inside Iraq during part of the war, which were used for logistical support and search and rescue operations, in information that had previously been indicated in reports by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
During the war, Israel also deployed a battery of the “Iron Dome” system in the Emirates with the forces operating it, along with other defensive systems, in a move that reflected the expansion of the scope of regional security cooperation related to the war.
The report indicates that the military presence in Azerbaijan provided Israel with an advanced platform for carrying out air rescue operations and monitoring Iranian military movements. Preparations for this mission also began weeks before the outbreak of war, when Israel worked to deploy eavesdropping devices and intelligence equipment near the Iranian-Azerbaijani border.
Israel and Azerbaijan have had close strategic relations for years, as Baku provides Israel with a large portion of its oil needs, while in return it obtains advanced Israeli weapons used in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. Azerbaijan was also the first foreign country to purchase the “Iron Dome” system in 2016.
This report reveals part of the hidden war that took place far from the spotlight, as the confrontation between Israel and Iran was not limited to air and missile strikes, but rather extended to a complex network of secret bases and regional alliances that redrew the map of conflict in the region.
