Israel secretly deployed elite forces to Azerbaijan and operated a fighter jet refueling station in Somaliland during the war with Iran, a report said Friday.

Dozens of commandos and Mossad agents were stationed along the Azerbaijan-Iran border, including, at the closest post to Iran, some 60 miles (96 kilometers) from the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, which Israel struck during the war, according to CNN, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

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’s offensive, the US outlet said.

Among the operations Israel reportedly launched from Azerbaijan was the killing, early in the Iran war, of Rahman Moqadam, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Special Operations Division.

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.

The Azerbaijani embassy in the US told CNN that it rejects “unfounded claims regarding the alleged use of Azerbaijan’s territory for operations against third countries.”

Iran has long expressed concern that Israel — a key Azerbaijani........

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