Azerbaijan has filed a lawsuit against CNN in a US federal court.
Modern.az reports, citing "Report", that the lawsuit was filed due to the publication of an article containing baseless and provocative claims against Azerbaijan.
The article published by CNN on June 5, 2026, contained a number of provocative claims that Azerbaijani territory was allegedly used by Israel for military and intelligence operations against Iran.
The article claimed that Israeli special forces were allegedly operating in several areas in southern Azerbaijan, near the Iranian border, conducting intelligence and drone operations from these points, and that Israel had allegedly pre-positioned listening devices and other intelligence equipment in Azerbaijan, intended for preparation for subsequent operations against Iran.
It should be noted that CNN was aware of Azerbaijan's position before the material was published. In response to CNN's inquiry, the Azerbaijani side officially denied these claims in advance and stated that the territory of Azerbaijan is not allowed to be used by any third state for military or intelligence purposes against Iran.
However, despite such a response, the material did not adequately reflect Azerbaijan's position, and the main claims were presented with reference to anonymous sources.
Despite repeated statements that Azerbaijan's territory is not allowed to be used by foreign forces against neighboring and third countries, the deliberate publication of an article full of false claims on CNN caused Azerbaijan's rightful dissatisfaction.
After the material was published, the Azerbaijani side officially demanded that CNN retract the claims and correct the material. A relevant statement was also made by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan regarding the issue.
On June 6, 23, and July 2, the Azerbaijani side sent official repeated letters to CNN, demanding the retraction of the claims in the material and the introduction of corrections.
Although CNN promised to investigate Azerbaijan's rightful demands, it has not taken any practical measures during this period and has not retracted the false claims it made.
In this case, Azerbaijan filed a lawsuit against CNN in the US Federal Court for the State of Delaware (the state where the media organization was officially established), and the claim was officially submitted to the court on August 17, 2026.
It should be noted that a one-sided approach regarding Azerbaijan has also been observed in previous materials by Tim Lister, one of the authors of the CNN material. It is known that he published biased claims against Azerbaijan in his articles during the 2020 Patriotic War and the anti-terror measures in 2023.
