Israel Built Secret Base in Iraq’s Desert to Support Air Campaign Against Iran

Israel established and defended a secret military base in Iraq’s desert to support its air campaign against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, with the facility built shortly before the conflict began and with prior knowledge of the United States.

“American sources and informed officials disclosed that Israel established a secret military base in the Iraqi desert, used as an advanced platform to support its air campaign against Iran, while an Iraqi security source for Al Jazeera denied any military deployment at the site in question”

Al-Jazeera Net

The base was described as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force that also hosted Israeli special forces and search-and-rescue teams positioned to respond if Israeli pilots were downed over Iranian territory.

Al-Jazeera Net

The report said the outpost was nearly exposed in early March after a local shepherd alerted Iraqi authorities to unusual activity, including helicopter movements, and Iraqi troops were dispatched to investigate.

Baghdad condemned the incident at the time and said one Iraqi soldier was killed, while Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, told state media: “This reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval.”

The Wall Street Journal also tied the base to the aftermath of a US F-15 fighter jet being shot down near Isfahan, saying Israel offered assistance but American troops independently recovered the pilot and the weapons system officer.

Iraqi state media and Iraqi officials framed the early-March incident as an unauthorized strike, with Lt. Gen. Qais al-Muhammadawi telling state media that the operation was “reckless” and carried out without coordination or authorization from Baghdad.

The Wall Street Journal account, as relayed by Türkiye Today, said Israel responded with airstrikes to keep Iraqi units back, killing one soldier and wounding two others, and it added that Iraq later filed a complaint with the United Nations attributing the attack to the United States.

Anadolu Ajansı

Kurdistan24 reported that the WSJ said the existence of such forward operating positions raised renewed concerns over Iraqi sovereignty and regional escalation, while also noting that Israel’s military declined to comment on the installation.

In parallel, ynetnews described online discussion around the alleged base and said open-source intelligence accounts published satellite footage, including a post claiming: “The temporary runway, about 1.6 kilometers long, was built on the bed of a dry lake.”

The same ynetnews report said sources familiar with the matter, including senior U.S. officials, told the Wall Street Journal that Israel established the secret outpost in the Iraqi desert shortly before the war broke out, with U.S. knowledge.

The alleged base and the strikes around it were reported alongside a broader diplomatic push, with The Wall Street Journal saying Washington and Tehran may resume talks as early as next week in Islamabad, Pakistan, with mediation efforts focusing on a draft 14-point memorandum of understanding.

“In the weeks before the United States and Israel launched their joint air campaign against Iran on February 28, 2026, Israel quietly erected a covert military outpost somewhere in the Iraqi desert, a forward base that would serve as both a logistical hub for the Israeli Air Force and a standby rescue platform if pilots went down over Iranian territory, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation citing American officials”

JFeed

Kurdistan24 and Anadolu Ajansı both tied the diplomatic timeline to a ceasefire brokered through Pakistani mediation that took effect on April 8, while also saying the first round of talks in Islamabad on April 11 failed to produce a lasting agreement.

Anadolu Ajansı reported that Trump later extended the truce without setting a deadline, and it linked the escalation to US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 that triggered Iranian retaliation and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Times of India also said the truce was extended by US President Donald Trump without a fixed end date, and it described the negotiations as aiming at de-escalation through a month-long negotiating process.

Against that backdrop, the WSJ reporting described the operational stakes of the Iraq outpost as search-and-rescue readiness for downed pilots, even while saying no Israeli pilots were reportedly lost during the campaign.