In the wake of the Wall Street Journal report about a “secret Israeli base” set up in Iraq during the Iran war, the Iraqi government and various militias are seeking answers.
The WSJ had said that “Israel built and defended a secret Iran war base in Iraq.” Now Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the army say they have launched “a large-scale operation to impose sovereignty in the Najaf desert.”
The PMF is made up of Iranian-backed militias. These include Kataib Hezbollah and other groups that are sanctioned by the US as terrorist groups. The militias play a major role in Iraq. In recent months, they have been posted along the Syrian border, for instance.
Iraq initially reacted to news of the “secret” base by denying its existence. Claims then emerged that the US warned Iraq to stay away from an area in southern Iraq in March. There were reports that Iraqis had approached the site and that there was an airstrike. Rumors on social media claimed an Iraqi shepherd was killed in March.
This has now led to Baghdad feeling like it must do something and show force. The result is that the PMF has pushed to send its forces to southern Iraq.
A show of strength amid sensitive instability
Ostensibly, the PMF should already have been able to go to this area, so the reports in Iraq are more about portraying the PMF as essential to Iraq’s security.
This comes amid US pressure to keep the militias and their members out of the new government being formed by the prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaydi. The new prime minister was chosen two weeks ago, after five months of uncertainty in the wake of the November 2025 elections. As such, this is a sensitive time for Iraq.
The Chief of Staff of the Middle Euphrates Operations Command of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Sajjad al-Asadi, announced that the PMF and Iraqi Army operations in the Najaf desert have been launched following reports of a “Zionist-American” airdrop in the area.
The formal announcement on the PMF’s official web page noted that “Al-Asadi stated that the PMF’s Middle Euphrates, Karbala, and Anbar Operations Commands, along with the 2nd Brigade, are participating in operations to establish control over the Najaf desert from four axes.”
The chief of staff noted that “security forces began advancing from the al-Faj checkpoint towards the heart of the Najaf desert along the operation’s axes, explaining that the objective is to establish full control over the Najaf desert and secure the desert and border regions.”
This will include an operation covering 120 km. radius, basically a large circle in southern Iraq. “Security forces are carrying out search and sweep operations extending from the cement factory towards al-Nukhayb, reaching the Arar border crossing,” he added.
The operation is being covered by Iraqi media outlets, including Shafaq News. Meanwhile, Iraq’s security forces have also claimed they “found no evidence of foreign troops or military equipment during search operations in the western desert regions, particularly in Karbala and Najaf provinces,” Iraq’s Joint Operations Command confirmed on Sunday, according to Shafaq.
This raised questions about why the PMF needs to conduct a new operation. It also illustrates how the new operation is more about showing off than about any real need to send units to the desert.
'Unidentified armed groups supported by air cover'
ACCORDING TO Shafaq News, Iraq’s head of the Security Media Cell, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, indicated that “the incident referenced in recent reports dates back to March 4, 2026, when Iraqi forces stationed east of al-Nukhayb in the Karbala desert clashed with unidentified armed groups supported by air cover, leaving one Iraqi security member dead and two others wounded.”
The fact that this occurred in early March and Iraq has not done anything since then raises questions about what Baghdad knew.
Iraq’s former prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, wrote on X/Twitter that “if the circulating press reports about the establishment of a secret military base in the Najaf desert are true, then we are faced with a grave breach that undermines Iraq’s sovereignty, necessitating full transparency with the Iraqis about all the facts and a clear assignment of responsibilities without equivocation or justification.”
He noted that the state is not enforcing its sovereignty. He added that “protecting Iraq cannot be achieved through speeches or political promotion campaigns, but rather by building a state that possesses its own decision-making authority, imposes its authority across the entire geography, subjects weapons to the rule of law, and prevents the country from being turned into an open arena for settling regional and international conflicts.”
Kadhimi was known as being close to the US and also angered the Iranian-backed militias when he was in charge. As such, his comments reflect a mainstream Iraqi view.
Iraqi media and politicians are focused on the new reports. Shafaq, for instance, has published details from Israeli media. Iraqis are fascinated by what is being said abroad, and Iraq’s government knows that this could create a crisis as the government appears weak and incompetent.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi politician has claimed that the base “camp is still present in western Iraq, noting that Iraqi forces are not allowed to approach it.” Member of Parliament Shaker Abu Turab al-Tamimi told Shafaq News Agency that “information emerged two months ago regarding the existence of this camp on Iraqi territory…the camp is still there, and Iraqi security forces have not been allowed to approach it.”
Photos online show the PMF operating in southern Iraq. The reports in Iraq also come as another controversy is boiling on social media. Iraqis have been reporting on an Israeli media report that a reporter for a Jewish religious magazine traveled to Iraq recently. This will also cause Iraqis to spread conspiracies about Israel’s role in the country.
Meanwhile, Iraq is also seeking to improve the border crossing with Saudi Arabia.
Shafaq noted that “on Monday, Shahid al-Aridhi, the advisor to the governor of Najaf for industry affairs, announced the formation of a committee headed by him to visit the site of the Al-Hakim border crossing with Saudi Arabia and the road leading to it, accompanied by the relevant government departments, to see firsthand the reality of the project and the requirements for its implementation.”