Overview
- A CNN investigation published on Friday, June 5, reported that Israel secretly deployed several dozen special forces, airborne rescue troops and Mossad operatives to multiple sites in southern Azerbaijan to support intelligence gathering and drone operations.
- Azerbaijan has categorically denied the claims, calling them unfounded, and independent verification of the reported Azerbaijani deployments is limited because the story relies largely on unnamed sources.
- Sources told reporters the forward positions began as contingency search‑and‑rescue or logistics posts but later expanded into active surveillance, drone missions and targeting support that extended Israel’s reach into northern Iran.
- One source linked an operation from the alleged Azerbaijani positions to the March 4 killing of IRGC intelligence chief Rahman Moghaddam, a claim that remains reported but not publicly confirmed by the countries involved.
- Earlier reporting by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Axios supports parts of the broader picture by describing secret Israeli facilities in western Iraq, the deployment of an Iron Dome battery to the UAE, and a logistical foothold in Somaliland, which together underscore the diplomatic and sovereignty questions raised by the new allegations.