Foreign media reported that Israel built a secret military base inside Iraqi territory for a war with Iran.
On the 9th (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited U.S. officials and other sources as saying that Israel built and operated a secret base in the western Iraqi desert just before the war with Iran that began on Feb. 28. U.S. authorities were also said to have been aware of it.
The base served as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force and a forward base for special forces, and in particular, a search and rescue (SAR) team was stationed there to prepare for situations in which pilots might be shot down during airstrikes on Iran, establishing a rapid response system.
Israel carried out large-scale airstrikes on Iran, which is 1,600 kilometers from the mainland, and in the process is said to have used the base in Iraq, close to the battlefield, to improve operational efficiency. In April, when a U.S. fighter jet was shot down near Isfahan, Iran, Israel even offered the base's rescue team support to the U.S. military.
The base, which had been operated in secret, faced the risk of exposure in early March. A local shepherd reported suspicious movements, including helicopter flights, to the authorities, and Iraqi forces approached the site in armored Humvees.
Israel launched airstrikes to defend the base, and in the process one Iraqi soldier was killed and two were injured. At the time, the Iraqi government blamed the United States and lodged a complaint with the United Nations, but it was an Israeli solo operation, the WSJ said.
The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to the WSJ's request for comment.