Israel built two covert bases in Iraq’s rugged western desert for well over a year to aid in its wars with Iran, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Iraqi officials described the development as a “blatant disregard for Iraqi sovereignty,” while a shepherd was killed after he stumbled on the base.
It all started on March 3, after Awad al-Shammari, 29, set off on a grocery trip, his cousin, Amir al-Shammari, told The New York Times.
Instead of making it home, the shepherd stumbled upon a closely guarded Israeli military secret, hidden in the Iraqi desert near the town of al-Nukhaib. His family believes it cost him his life.
Sometime between starting his ill-fated trip and its gruesome end, Awad had contacted Iraq’s regional military command to report what he had seen: soldiers, helicopters and tents clustered around a landing strip.
Israel was operating a base there to support its military operations against Baghdad’s regional partner, Iran, according to senior Iraqi and regional officials.
The presence of an Israeli outpost in Iraq was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal. Iraqi officials told The Times there was another undisclosed second base also in Iraq’s western desert.
The base Awad came across predated the current war between the United States, Israel and Iran, the regional security officials said, and was used during the 12-day war against Iran in June 2025.
The information the sources shared indicates that at least one of the bases — the one the shepherd stumbled upon — had been known to Washington since June 2025 or possibly earlier. That would most likely mean Baghdad’s other key ally, the United States, had withheld from Iraq the fact that hostile forces were on its soil.
“It shows a blatant disregard for Iraqi sovereignty, its government and its forces, as well as for the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said Waad al-Kadu, an Iraqi lawmaker who attended a confidential parliamentary briefing about that base.
Israel’s military declined repeated requests for comment on the camps or on Awad’s killing.
The US role in Iraqi security was part of Israel’s calculations in deciding it could safely operate clandestinely in Iraq, the regional officials said.
Major General Ali al-Hamdani, commander of the Iraqi military’s Western Euphrates Forces, said the army had suspected an Israeli presence in the desert for over a month before the shepherd’s discovery.
“Until now,” he said, “the government has been silent about it.”
Iraq’s government, for whom acknowledging Israeli outposts is fraught, has still not acknowledged the Israeli bases. Iraq has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and its population sees Israel as an enemy.
Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraq’s security forces, told The Times that Iraq “has no information regarding the locations of any Israeli military bases.”
Growing outrage in Iraq over the revelations could threaten US efforts to curb Iranian influence in the country, even as the war’s outcome remains uncertain.
Iraqis also fear pro-Iran armed factions will use these developments to justify their refusal to disarm and to expand their military influence in Iraq.
