Iraq Pushes Back Against Secret Israeli Base Claims

(MENAFN) A senior Iraqi security official flatly rejected reports Sunday alleging that Israel had covertly established a military installation inside Iraq's western desert to facilitate airstrikes against Iran.

The official, who spoke to media under the condition of anonymity, dismissed claims of an active clandestine Israeli military presence in Iraq's desert as "false."

Addressing a specific incident that has featured prominently in recent media coverage, the official described an encounter with a "mysterious" airborne operation that Iraqi forces encountered in March near the desert locality of al-Nukhaib in central Iraq, confirming the situation "was handled at the time."

The denials follow a bombshell report published Saturday by The Wall Street Journal, which — citing unnamed sources — alleged that Israel had erected a covert military outpost inside Iraqi territory to serve as a logistical staging ground for Israeli air force operations targeting Iran. The newspaper further claimed that Israeli special forces were deployed at the facility, and that the site had been constructed with prior US knowledge before Israel initiated its offensive against Iran on Feb. 28.

The base's existence reportedly nearly unraveled in early March after Iraqi state media disclosed that a shepherd had stumbled upon suspicious military activity in the area — including helicopter movements — prompting security forces to investigate. According to the Wall Street Journal report, Israel responded with airstrikes to prevent Iraqi troops from closing in on the site.

Israel's military offered no comment. Neither Iraq, Israel, nor the US has issued an official statement on the matter.

Corroborating elements of the account, however, emerged on March 5, when Iraqi Joint Operations Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi stated in televised remarks that authorities had received a tip from a shepherd regarding an unidentified armed presence in desert terrain bordering Najaf and Karbala in southern Iraq.

Al-Muhammadawi said Iraqi forces deployed in Humvee convoys came under intense aerial bombardment approximately 15 kilometers — roughly 9 miles — from the reported coordinates, leaving one soldier dead, two others wounded, and two vehicles destroyed. A subsequent sweep of the area by reinforcements yielded no trace of personnel, leading Al-Muhammadawi to conclude that "a certain force had been on the ground and received air support."

Iraq formally lodged a complaint with Washington later in March, accusing foreign forces of carrying out the attack and holding the US accountable.

The episode unfolds against a backdrop of acute regional instability triggered by coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, which sparked Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israel and American allies in the Gulf and forced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire brokered through Pakistani mediation took hold on April 8, though talks in Islamabad failed to yield a permanent resolution. US President Donald Trump subsequently extended the truce with no fixed end date.

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