The forces were originally meant to serve as a rescue team in case Iran shot down an Israeli jet, but the mission was expanded to include intelligence and drone operations in support of Israel\u2019s offensive, the US outlet said.<\/p>\n
Among the operations Israel reportedly launched from Azerbaijan was the killing, early in the Iran war, of Rahman Moqadam<\/a>, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019 Special Operations Division.<\/p>\n Moqadam was responsible for recruiting and training operatives both inside and outside of Iran, and asked them to gather intelligence on Israeli political leaders, security officials, Israeli and Western military installations, ports, and Israeli ships around the world.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition \t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The Azerbaijani embassy in Israel said the country rejects the \u201centirely baseless\u201d claims in the report<\/p>\n \u201cAs has been stated on numerous occasions, allegations that Azerbaijan\u2019s territory has been used by any third country for military operations, intelligence activities, or other hostile purposes against another state are completely unfounded. Azerbaijan has never allowed, and will never allow, its territory to be used for such purposes,\u201d it said, attacking CNN for betraying \u201cthe principles of objectivity, impartiality, and professional ethics in journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Iran has long expressed concern that Israel \u2014 a key Azerbaijani arms supplier and energy consumer \u2014 could use Azerbaijan\u2019s territory to stage attacks on it. In June 2025, Azerbaijan reassured Tehran that it would not allow such use of its territory after Israel launched a large-scale strike on Iranian targets. Tehran has historically been wary of separatist sentiment among its ethnic Azerbaijani minority, which makes up around 10 million of Iran\u2019s 83 million citizens.<\/p>\n The CNN report about Israel\u2019s deployments in Azerbaijan and Somaliland follows separate reports in US media that said Israel had also deployed an air defense unit to the United Arab Emirates<\/a> and operated two covert bases in Iraq<\/a> during the war against Iran.<\/p>\n CNN said it has approached Somaliland\u2019s foreign ministry and Israel\u2019s Prime Minister\u2019s Office and military for comment.<\/p>\n Israel in December became the first nation to recognize the breakaway region in East Africa, enraging Arab League and African Union countries.<\/p>\n While Israel remains the only nation to recognize Somaliland<\/a>, CNN noted that the UAE maintains a large commercial and military presence in Somaliland\u2019s port city of Berbera.<\/p>\n \t Israel and the US launched a bombing campaign on Iran on February 28 to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump declared a truce on April 8, but talks to end the war have faltered over the nuclear program and postwar control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran blockaded early in the war.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Trump said Washington does not need a deal with Iran to extract the country\u2019s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could get it right now. I don\u2019t think they could stop us if we wanted, but there\u2019s no reason to. It\u2019s entombed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While Iran, whose leaders are sworn to Israel\u2019s destruction, denies seeking nuclear arms, it has enriched uranium to levels with no peaceful application. The highly enriched material is believed to be trapped underground after the US bombed key Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Israel-Iran war last June.<\/p>\n Agencies contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel\u2019s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.<\/p>\n You can screen ‘The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg’<\/strong> June 4-11.\u00a0 Join The Times of Israel Community today <\/strong>to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, left, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pose for a photo before their talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 28, 2025. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260106__89T99ND__v1__HighRes__SomaliaSomalilandIsraelDiplomacy-e1780653540891-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tForeign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar, left, speaks alongside Somaliland\u2019s President Abdirahman Abdullahi Mohamed during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway East African region, on January 6, 2026. (Somaliland Presidential Office via AFP)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tDiscover Israel’s most beloved poet\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-5-Houses-of-Lea-Goldberg-Poster-1-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
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\n\t\t\t\tI want to see it\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
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