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Israel built secret base in Iraq to bomb Iran – WSJ

RT News · · 445 words · By Russia Today
Israeli-Iranian Conflict US-Israel Diplomatic Relations Iraqi Sovereignty
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.rt.com/news/639817-israel-secret-iraq-base/

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

12 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
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“Israel secretly built a military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources, including a report citing The Wall Street Journal and another reporting on the same event, confirm that Israel established a secret military base in the Iraqi desert to support air operations against Iran.
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web search NEUTRAL — The establishment of military bases abroad enables a country to project power, e.g., to conduct expeditionary warfare, to influence events abroad. Depending on their size and infrastructure, they can …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_oversea…
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web search NEUTRAL — Israel established a secret military base in Iraq’s desert region to support air operations against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/us-israel-iran-war/israel-built-hid…
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web search NEUTRAL — Israel established a hidden military base deep in Iraq’s desert region to support its air strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to a report.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/05/09/768346/Israel-built…
info
“Israel... launched strikes on Iraqi troops who nearly discovered it”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia and news homepages for Israel and does not contain any specific information regarding attacks on Iraqi troops who discovered the base.
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web search NEUTRAL — Israel, [a] officially the State of Israel, [b] is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
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web search NEUTRAL — News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Stay informed on Israel News: All for the latest updates, and breaking news on Israeli politics, culture, Israeli sports, Health, and Tech from the Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news
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“The clandestine base was set up shortly before the US and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran in late February”
CORROBORATED
The claim is corroborated by multiple sources: RT World News (citing WSJ), JFeed, and a Wikipedia entry for the '2026 Iran war' which confirms the conflict began on February 28, 2026, with US and Israeli airstrikes.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies. The conflict began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting mili…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iran and Israel have not maintained a formal diplomatic relationship with each other since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict has grown to large…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Israel_relations
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Israel supported Iran during the Iran–Iraq War. Israel was one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Iran during the war. Israel also provided military instructors during the war, and in turn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Iran_durin…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“The US was reportedly aware of the installation”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The search results for this claim returned irrelevant information about United Airlines and general Iraq-Israel relations, but no specific evidence regarding US awareness of the secret installation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 17 January 1991, Iraq initiated a missile campaign against Israel. Over the course of the next month, approximately 42 Scud missiles were fired into Israeli territory, primarily at the cities of Te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Iraqi_missile_attacks_aga…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies. The conflict began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting mili…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iraq–Israel relations refer to the bilateral ties between the State of Israel and the Republic of Iraq. Due to Iraq's non-recognition of Israel as a legitimate state since the latter's establishment i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq–Israel_relations
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“the installation... housed Israeli special forces, served as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force, and hosted search-and-rescue teams”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the JFeed result mentions the base housed special forces and was a staging area, the Wikipedia results provided for this specific claim are general definitions of the IAF and MiG-21, not confirmation of the base's contents. Only one specific report (JFeed) supports the detail.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — IAF may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAF
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Israeli Air Force (IAF; Hebrew: זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, romanized: Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, lit. 'Air and Space Arm', commonly known as חֵיל הָאֲוִיר‎, Kheil HaAvir, "Air Corps") operates as the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Air_Force
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21
info
“The attack killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two others.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided contains reports of other attacks in Iraq (ISIL attacks and general US airstrikes), but none specifically link a death of one soldier and two injuries to an attack on troops investigating the secret Israeli base.
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web search NEUTRAL — ‡ indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths § indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War This list only includes major attacks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
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web search NEUTRAL — The Iraqi government labeled the strikes, which resulted in the death of one security force member and injuries to 18 others, including civilians, as an “unacceptable attack on Iraqi sovereignty,” neg…
https://dailystar.com.lb/us-airstrikes-iraq-resulted-one-fat…
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web search NEUTRAL — Also on Monday, at least 33 Iraqi soldiers and allied militia fighters were killed in an ambush by ISIL fighters in Seddiqiya in Anbar province. More than 40 others were injured in the attack in the t…
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/6/1/iraqi-soldiers-die-i…
verified
“Iran, whose territory lies over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Israel”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Multiple web search results and distance calculators confirm the shortest air distance between Israel and Iran is approximately 1,789 km (over 1,000 miles).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies. The conflict began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting mili…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Iran–Israel conflict is a long-standing geopolitical and military confrontation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Israel, involving proxy hostilities since 1985 and direct clas…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Israel_conflict
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Twelve-Day War was an armed conflict between Iran and Israel which lasted from 13 to 24 June 2025. It began when Israel bombed military and nuclear facilities in Iran in a surprise attack, assassi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-Day_War
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Israeli aircraft carried out thousands of strikes during the five-week campaign”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported by RT World News (citing WSJ) and is supported by the Wikipedia entry for 'List of attacks during the 2026 Iran war' and Britannica, which confirm the scale and timing of the campaign.
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web search NEUTRAL — This is a list of airstrikes and bombardments carried out during the 2026 Iran war. The strikes began on 28 February 2026, when Israel and the United States launched attacks on targets across Iran, co…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Israeli–United_States_str…
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web search NEUTRAL — Israeli aircraft carried out thousands of strikes during the five-week campaign, while the Iraqi desert outpost gave Israeli teams a forward position closer to the battlefield.
https://www.rt.com/news/639817-israel-secret-iraq-base/
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2026 Iran war is a conflict that is centered on Iran and was initiated by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, embroiling the entire Middle East region.How did the United States and …
https://www.britannica.com/event/2026-Iran-war
help
“Former US counterterrorism chief Joe Kent... resigned in protest in March”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Joe Kent resigning in March.
help
“US intelligence assessments that Tehran was not actively building a nuclear weapon”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding specific US intelligence assessments on Tehran's nuclear weapon progress.
schedule
“US agencies had warned Iran would retaliate by targeting American bases and attempting to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if attacked”
PENDING
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“US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this week that President Donald Trump acted based on “American interests” and his “America First” policy”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.