Get your daily news on media and advertising
Provided by AGP
Media Says Israel Ran Secret Iraq Base for Iran Strikes
(MENAFN) Israel covertly constructed a military outpost deep in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, drawing on sources with direct knowledge of the operation.
The installation, built in the weeks preceding the outbreak of hostilities, was erected with Washington's knowledge and functioned as a logistical staging ground for the Israeli air force, with Israeli special operations units manning the facility, the paper reported.
Search-and-rescue personnel were also deployed to the base with a specific mandate: recover any Israeli pilots forced to eject during combat missions. That contingency was never activated.
The outpost's existence was nearly blown open in early March when Iraqi state media reported that a shepherd had spotted unusual military movements in a remote desert zone — including helicopter activity — prompting Iraqi ground forces to move toward the area. According to The Wall Street Journal, Israeli forces launched airstrikes to halt the advance before soldiers could reach the site, killing one Iraqi soldier in the process.
Baghdad swiftly condemned the strike. "This reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval," Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, told Iraqi state media in the aftermath.
Israel's military offered no comment on the report.
The paper further revealed that when a US F-15 was shot down near Isfahan, Israel offered to assist in the rescue. American forces ultimately recovered both crew members independently, though Israeli aircraft carried out strikes to help secure the retrieval operation.
The broader conflict was ignited on Feb. 28, when US and Israeli forces struck Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks against Israel and American allies throughout the Gulf and prompting Tehran to shut the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire brokered by Pakistan took hold on April 8, though subsequent negotiations in Islamabad collapsed before yielding a permanent accord. Trump subsequently announced a truce extension, offering no fixed end date.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
