Sources say Israel sent troops to Azerbaijan during Iran war

By Tal Shalev and Tim ListerSaturday June 6, 2026

North Western State of Somalia’s Ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Hag, left, meets with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, right, after presenting his credentials at the presidential residence in Jerusalem, on May 18. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Washington, DC — Israel quietly sent elite military and intelligence units into Azerbaijan during its war with Iran, positioning them at a string of covert sites across the Middle East that helped support operations against Tehran, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

Two of the sources said the forces were based at multiple sites in southern Azerbaijan, close to Iran’s northern frontier and, at the nearest point, roughly 60 miles from the Iranian city of Tabriz, which Israel hit during the war.

The other two sources said special commando units were also dispatched there, where they carried out intelligence collection and drone missions, giving Israel a rare vantage point over northern Iran during the conflict.

The secret deployment to Azerbaijan, reported by CNN for the first time, was one of several military positions Israel maintained across the Middle East that gave its military unprecedented reach, highlighting the role Iran’s neighbors played — some with permission, some likely without — in facilitating operations against Tehran and becoming entangled in the conflict.

The sites in Azerbaijan were part of a wider web of covert military bases and positions in several countries, the sources told CNN, including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and North Western State of Somalia. What began as planning for emergency rescue contingencies grew into a broader intelligence and military footprint.

Seen together, the deployments described by the sources placed Israeli forces on Iran’s northern, western and southern edges during the war, extending their reach by hundreds of miles into Iranian territory. Those forward positions helped Israel keep up repeated strikes on targets across the country.

The Azerbaijan contingent included several dozen personnel, among them members of Israel’s special operations forces, its elite airlifted combat and rescue unit, and Mossad officers, one source said.

A spokesperson for the Azerbaijani embassy in the United States said in a statement to CNN, “We firmly reject unfounded claims regarding the alleged use of Azerbaijan’s territory for operations against third countries.”

After this story published, Azerbaijan’s Media Development Agency said “The publication of this information is aimed at creating confusion with the international community, undermining regional stability and interstate relations, and generating tensions in the region … Such fabricated claims constitute blatant information manipulation.”

CNN has reached out to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Meanwhile, the breakaway republic of North Western State of Somalia on the Horn of Africa provided Israel with another operating point, one source said, giving Israeli aircraft a possible stopover on long-range flights to Iran. In December, Israel became the first country to formally recognize North Western State of Somalia, and the UAE maintains an extensive commercial and military presence in the port city of Berbera.

CNN, which is the first to report on the use of covert Israeli military sites in North Western State of Somalia, has reached out to its foreign ministry for comment.

Israel also kept two secret facilities in Iraq during part of the war with Iran, giving it forward bases for logistics and, if required, search and rescue. The two locations in Iraq were first reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. In a statement, Iraq’s military said there were no “unauthorized bases or forces” in the country as of early March.

Israel also discreetly sent an Iron Dome air defense battery to the UAE — along with the troops needed to run it — during the war with Iran, Axios first reported, as well as other defense systems. CNN has previously reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Mossad and Israel’s military chief visited the UAE during the war. The revelation prompted a strong denial of the visit from the UAE.

Azerbaijan seen as a strategic partner

Israel’s presence in Azerbaijan gave it another foothold for rescue missions in the event of downed pilots, while also offering a platform for spying on Iran.

Israel has long considered Azerbaijan a key partner in its confrontation with Iran, and preparations started weeks before the first strikes of the war. In mid-January, as Iran was crushing mass protests through the killing of demonstrators, Israel prepared a covert mission along the Azerbaijan-Iran border, two sources familiar with the plan told CNN. They described it as an initial operation meant to lay the groundwork for further steps by planting listening devices and intelligence gear in the area.

Israel had intended to carry out the operation under cover of what were supposed to be the opening strikes of the war in mid-January. But US President Donald Trump called off those strikes at the last minute, saying Iran had agreed to halt the killing of demonstrators.

Israel moved ahead anyway.

The Israeli Air Force used stealth aircraft and special forces in the effort to install the devices, as Israel’s political leadership concluded that negotiations between the US and Iran were unlikely to succeed. The intelligence site became another channel through which Israel could gather data on Iranian military movements and facilities, and possibly get advance warning of missile launches.

Less than two weeks later, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar traveled to Baku and met with the Azerbaijani president and other senior officials. In May 2025, Azerbaijan also covertly hosted rare direct talks between Israel and Syria.

One of the major operations launched from Azerbaijan, one source said, was the March 4 killing of Rahman Moghaddam, who headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) intelligence division and whom Israel said was responsible for plotting an assassination attempt against Trump in 2024. A day later, drones hit an airport in Azerbaijan’s enclave of Nakhchivan, damaging a terminal and injuring several people. President Ilham Aliyev blamed Iran, calling it “an act of terror” that was “ugly, cowardly and shameless.” Iran denied launching the drones.

On March 6, Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said it had disrupted an IRGC plot to target critical infrastructure as well as Israeli and Jewish sites. Weeks later, Israel publicly said the operation was joint and involved the Mossad, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security service.

Israel and Azerbaijan have built close ties around commercial and military interests. Baku supplies Israel with a major share of its oil. In exchange, Israel sells Azerbaijan advanced arms, some of which were used against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts in 2016 and 2020. Azerbaijan was also the first foreign buyer of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system in 2016.

“Israeli strategy in Azerbaijan remains deliberately low-profile, relying on arms transfers, intelligence cooperation, and long-term technological interdependence in the security sector,” wrote Gershon Kogan, a specialist on Iran at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, before the Iran war began.

The relationship also gives Azerbaijan access to an important diplomatic asset, according to Joshua Kucera, a senior analyst for the Crisis Group, by allowing Baku to tap into Israel’s lobbying network in Washington, DC.

“Azerbaijan is increasingly trying to position itself as a regional power, and that includes being a sort of bridge at times between Israel and Arab and other states,” Kucera said.

“If Israel is a tool in helping Azerbaijan combat IRGC destabilization efforts, it’s very secret,” Kucera said.