Azerbaijan sues CNN over report Israel used its territory against Iran

BAKU, Azerbaijan (MNTV) — Azerbaijan has sued CNN in a US court over a June report alleging that Israeli military and intelligence personnel operated from Azerbaijani territory during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, escalating a dispute over Baku’s role in the conflict.

CNN published the investigation on June 5, citing four unnamed sources who described an Israeli presence at several sites in southern Azerbaijan, saying elite units conducted intelligence and drone operations that gave Israel a position near Iran’s northern border. 

The report described the sites as part of a wider network of covert Israeli positions across the region. 

Azerbaijan has consistently denied the account: its embassy in Washington called the claims “unfounded,” and its Media Development Agency (MEDIA), a state body, denounced the report as “blatant fake information” published without evidence, accusing CNN of “deliberate information manipulation” that could inflame tensions with Iran. 

CNN included Azerbaijan’s denials in its original story.

Baku’s pro-government Report agency said officials asked CNN three times to retract the article before filing the defamation suit; CNN reviewed the objections but left the report unchanged. 

The case is unusual, since a foreign government is suing a U.S. news organization for libel — U.S. government bodies generally cannot sue critics for defamation, and legal observers note foreign states may face the same constitutional barrier.

The allegations are contested but not isolated. 

During the war, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly urged Azerbaijan to investigate reports that Israeli drones had crossed Iranian airspace via Azerbaijani territory — a claim President Ilham Aliyev denied — and Israeli media cited an unnamed defense official as saying Israeli forces had operated from a country “close” to Iran. 

Azerbaijan maintains, at the highest levels, that its territory has never been used against Iran. 

MNTV could not independently verify either CNN’s reporting or the scope of any Israeli presence.