Israel built two covert military bases in Iraq to support Iran strikes, report claims

Summary

Israel built two covert military bases in Iraqi desert to support Iran strikes, report claims One of the bases is reported to have been discovered by a shepherd who was later killed by Israeli forces Israel built and operated two covert military bases in Iraq to support its strikes on Iran, according to a new report. Previous reports by the Wall Street Journal said that Israel had spent over a year building a makeshift base in Iraq’s western desert to aid its attacks on Iran in the 12-day war in June 2025. But senior Iraqi officials officials have now confirmed the existence of a second base, whose precise location is undisclosed but is also reported to be in the Iraqi desert. The discovery of the first base in al-Nukhaib was made by 29-year-old shepherd Awad al-Shammari who was later killed by Israeli forces, his family claimed to the The New York Times. Mr al-Shammari had set out on a grocery trip when he contacted Iraq’s regional military command to report that he had seen soldiers, helicopters and tents arranged around a landing strip. The base he discovered, which is now defunct, predated the current war and was used during the 12-day war, according to regional security officials. Israeli forces had also identified remote sites from which to operate in future conflicts, according to the report. Bedouin communities in the region had also reported unusual military activity in the weeks leading up to the discovery, according to General Ali al-Hamdani, commander of the Iraqi military’s Western Euphrates Forces, prompting the regional command to conduct “surveillance monitoring” on the area. “Until now, the government has been silent about it,” he said. A reconnaissance mission was dispatched the day after the shepherd’s report, but as units approached the area they came under fire, according to a statement released by Iraq’s Joint Operations Command the day after the incident, on 4 March. One soldier was killed in the attack, two were wounded and two vehicles were bombed, forcing the units to retreat. The Joint Operations Command raised the issue with the UN Security Council and blamed “foreign” forces for the attack. According to General al-Hamdani, the chief of staff of Iraq’s armed forces, Gen Abdul-Amir Yarallah, contacted his American counterparts who “confirmed the force is not an American force, so we understood it was Israeli.” Military leaders were then forced to provide a confidential debrief to lawmakers. Hassan Fadaam, a lawmaker who was present said that Israel had set up at least one other outpost inside Iraq. “The one in al-Nukhaib is just the only one that was found out,” he said. Two regional security officials told the publication that the base discovered by Mr al-Shammari was used by Israel for air support, refueling and for the purposes of providing medical treatment. The base was also used to shorten the distance for Israeli aircraft to fly to Iran, to which Iraq remains a staunch ally. The Wall Street Journal had described it as a base housing special forces and serving as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force. Iraq’s government has not acknowledged the Israeli bases, with a spokesperson for the country’s security forces insisting that Iraq has “no information regarding the locations of any Israeli military bases”. It has acknowledged a short-term unauthorised presence, without giving further detail. Officials told the New York Times that the US may have concealed the Israeli operation or informed the top command on a confidential basis. But they added that it is extremely unlikely that Iraqi leaders were aware that the base was run by the Israelis until its presence was exposed by the shepherd. Washington is reported to have forced Iraq to shut down its radar to protect US aircraft making the country reliant on American forces to inform it of hostile activity during both the current war and the 12-day war, according to two Iraqi security officials. “It shows a blatant disregard for Iraqi sovereignty, its government and its forces, as well as for the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said Iraqi lawmaker Waad al-Kadu, who also attended a confidential parliamentary briefing about the base. According to the report, at least one of the bases would have been known to the US since June 2025 and possibly earlier, meaning that Washington may have withheld information that a hostile state, Israel, was operating on the territory of its Iraqi ally. Iraq does not share diplomatic relations with Israel and the country is deeply unpopular with its populace. Mr al-Shammari’s cousin Amir says that the family searched for two days to find him after relatives lost contact and are demanding that the government investigate the incident. “We were told that a burned-up pickup truck the same as Awad’s was out there, but no one dared to go there,” Amir said. “When we got there, we found the car and body burned.” The Independent has contacted the Israeli military and US Central Command for comment. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments