CNN reveals the behind-the-scenes of Israel's network of secret websites about Iran during the war
In a report published on Friday, the American network "CNN" revealed that Israel secretly deployed special military and intelligence units in Azerbaijan during its war with Iran, as part of a wider network of secret sites deployed in the Middle East to facilitate direct military operations.
The network quoted four sources familiar with the matter as saying that Israeli forces operated from several locations in southern Azerbaijan along Iran's northern border, just about 60 miles from the Iranian city of Tabriz, which has been hit intensely during the war.
The sources explained that this covert deployment included special commando units that carried out precise tasks to gather information and operate drones, which gave the IDF an advanced strategic location to monitor facilities in northern Iran, and the operations in Azerbaijan included dozens of soldiers from the Special Operations Forces, an airborne combat and rescue unit, as well as members of the "Mossad" service.
Baku denied the news, with a spokesman for Azerbaijan's embassy in Washington reiterating his country's categorical rejection of what it called baseless allegations about the use of its territory against third countries.
Multi-Axis Encirclement
According to intelligence reports, the Israeli deployment system positioned its forces on the southern, western and northern axes surrounding Iran, allowing the range of operations to be expanded by hundreds of miles and successive waves of strikes to be carried out.
This system, according to the American network, included secret bases in Iraq that provided advanced bases for logistical support and the implementation of search and rescue operations, despite the Iraqi army's confirmation in a previous statement that there were no "unauthorized forces" inside the country until early March, in parallel with the provision of an additional military site as a cornerstone and a stopover for Israeli planes during their long-range flights, especially after Israel became the first country to officially recognize Somaliland last December.
Israel also deployed, according to information reported by media outlets including Axios, an air defense battery from the Iron Dome system, along with other defense systems and the forces tasked with operating them in the United Arab Emirates to protect itspositions.
This came in conjunction with leaks about secret visits made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompanied by the head of the Mossad and the chief of staff to the UAE during the war, news that Abu Dhabi categorically denied, retaining the limits of its traditional commercial and military presence in the region, such as the port city of Berbera.
A unilateral maneuver and a violation of the American decision
According to political sources, this information comes to unveil the roots of Israeli military planning, which began to take shape operationally in mid-January, when Israel prepared a secret preliminary mission on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border to install listening devices and advanced surveillance equipment to provide early warnings of rocket launches.
The mission was scheduled to coincide with the opening strikes of the war, but US President Donald Trump decided to cancel the US strikes at the last minute based on political data that Tehran had agreed to stop killing protesters during internal protests.
Despite the U.S. retreat, Israel's political and military leadership continued to carry out the mission unilaterally, using stealth planes and special forces, based on its view that diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Tehran would not lead to tangible results to protect its security, which prompted it to strengthen this regional intelligence blockade to ensure an unprecedented operational range deep inside Iran.