जानी दुश्मन से पहले अच्छे दोस्त थे इज़रायल-ईरान, कैसे एक-दूसरे के ख़िलाफ़ लामबंद हुए दोनों मुल्क? – Iran Israel relation enmity timeline allies to archenemies how explained history mdsb ntc
A fierce war is going on between the two big players of the Middle East – Iran and Israel. Today both the countries are sworn enemies of each other. This war has also affected other countries in the region. Israel has long been critical of deals aimed at improving the West’s relations with Iran. It has been insisting on imposing more sanctions on Iran and using its deep relations with America for this.
Israel has iranThe government has been described as a threat to its existence. The two countries have been attempting to target each other for decades, including direct conflict in recent years. Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, concerns have increased about a major territorial conflict in the Middle East, with the two enemy countries at the center.
However, Iran-Israel relations have not always been as bad as they are today. But on the contrary, there was a time when Iran and Israel were not only allies but also stood as each other’s strength. After Israel came into existence in 1948, Iran, led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, became the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel.
Iran was one of the 11 members of the special committee of the United Nations, which was formed to find a solution for Palestine after the end of British control in 1947.
How did Iran and Israel become enemies?
Before Israel was created in 1948, Zionist militias expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes on ethnic grounds. Zionist militias were armed Jewish groups that were active in Palestine during British rule. Palestinians call their forced removal and eviction Nakba, which means devastation.
In 1948, the first Arab-Israeli war occurred due to the fundamental opposition of Arab countries to Israel. However, Iran was not a part of the Israeli conflict and after Israel’s victory, it maintained relations with the Jewish state. This was the second Muslim-majority country after Türkiye to do so.
According to an analysis by the Brookings Institute (‘Iran’s revolution, 40 years on: Israel’s reverse periphery doctrine’), Israel, under its first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, tried to counter the hostility of the Arab countries with the ‘periphery doctrine’. They middle east Tried to form an alliance with non-Arab (but mostly Muslim) countries. The main among these non-Arab partners were Türkiye and pre-revolution Iran. These were countries that at that time had similar inclinations towards the West and had different reasons for feeling isolated in the Middle East.
This was the period when Iran was ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty under the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The US and Israel supported this regime and both countries maintained relations with each other and despite the economic boycott of Arab countries, Iran even sold oil to Israel.
Things changed after Mohammad Mosaddegh became Prime Minister of Iran in 1951, when he led the nationalization of the country’s oil industry, which was monopolized by Britain. Mosaddegh broke relations with Israel, which he saw as fulfilling Western interests in the region.
Zionism emerged as a political ideology in the late 19th century, demanding the creation of a homeland for persecuted Jews in Europe.
When the Intelligence Services of the United Kingdom and the United States overthrew Mossadegh’s government in a coup in 1953, the situation changed a lot. The coup returned the Shah to power, who became a staunch ally of the West in the region.
Israel established an embassy in Tehran and eventually there was an exchange of ambassadors between the two countries in the 1970s. Trade relations grew and Iran soon became a major provider of oil to Israel. Both of them built a pipeline, the purpose of which was to send Iranian oil to Israel and then to Europe.
There was also considerable military and security cooperation between Tehran and Tel Aviv, but this was mostly kept hidden to avoid provoking the Arab countries of the region.
revolution of 1979
The Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979 and after the removal of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran became the new Islamic Republic, even though those who opposed that regime included communists and people who were not necessarily supporters of a religion-based state. Nevertheless, the new regime’s view of Israel was not the same as that of the Shah and it was now seen as an occupier of Palestinian land.
The leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, presented a new perspective, which mostly supported Islam. According to him, ‘Ghamandi’ talked about standing up against the world powers and their regional allies, who oppressed areas like Palestine for their own benefit. This meant that in Iran Israel became known as the ‘little devil’ and America as the ‘big devil’.
Tehran broke all relations with Israel. Citizens could no longer travel and flight routes were cancelled. The Israeli Embassy in Tehran was converted into the Palestinian Embassy. Iran also tried to increase its presence in the Middle East and challenged the two major powers, Saudi Arabia and Israel, both of whom were America’s allies.
Other incidents in the area also affected their relationships. Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser had long supported the idea of ’Pan-Arabism’ in the region and called for turning cultural similarities between Arab countries into greater solidarity and unity. Due to this, Iran, which was a non-Arab country, got involved with it. After Nasser’s death in 1970, Iran’s relations with countries such as Egypt improved.
Khomeini declared every last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Quds Day and since then large rallies in support of Palestinians have been held across Iran on that day. Jerusalem is known as Al-Quds in Arabic. Khomeini tried to make the Palestinian issue an Islamic issue.
Enmity between Iran and Israel grew as both sides tried to consolidate and increase their power and influence across the region.
Now, Iran supports a ‘Resistance Axis’ network of political and armed groups in several countries across the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, which also support the Palestinian cause and consider Israel a major enemy.
On the other hand, Israel has supported many groups that violently oppose the Iranian government.
‘Shadow war’ between Iran and Israel
Relations between the two countries deteriorated; for decades, Israel and Iran did not engage in direct military conflict, attempting to inflict damage on each other through proxy and limited strategic attacks. But the tension between the two countries has not been limited only to ideology or proxy groups. Both are said to be behind a long series of attacks on each other’s interests inside and outside their territories, which they publicly deny. This has come to be known as ‘Shadow War’, which has rapidly come to the fore in front of the world as the enmity has increased.
Iran’s nuclear program has been at the center of some of the biggest attacks. Israel says that it will never allow Iran to make a nuclear bomb. Tehran says that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
Israel and the US are believed to be behind the Stuxnet malware, which caused major damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities in the 2000s.
In 2010, the US and Israel are believed to have created a dangerous computer virus named Stuxnet. According to Reuters, it was used to attack the uranium enrichment facility at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site and was ‘the first publicly known cyber attack on industrial machinery’.
Also read: 24 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on Gaza, crisis over ceasefire with Hamas deepens
In the past few years, there have been several attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military facilities, for which Tehran has blamed Israel. Many people including many well-known nuclear scientists have also been targeted in these attacks. The biggest assassination took place in 2020, when top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was shot by a satellite-monitored, AI-controlled machine gun mounted on the back of a pickup truck.
On the other hand, Israel and its Western allies accuse Iran of being behind numerous attacks on Israeli interests, including several drone attacks and cyber attacks on Israeli oil tankers.
Iran is considered responsible for funding and supporting several militant groups in the region that are opposed to Israel and the US, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Due to this support, concerns were raised about increasing fighting or conflict in 2023. Since then, Israel has also targeted the heads of many of these groups, dealing a blow to Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’.
Also read: Trump or Netanyahu? Who benefits from Iran’s war, who loses – Inside Story
How did the direct war between Iran and Israel start?
The first direct war between Israel and Iran took place in April 2024. Iran’s attack was in response to a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Syria, which killed 12 people, including a senior general. After this Israel started attacks.
In June 2025, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting several nuclear and military sites and killing several senior military officers and scientists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it ‘Operation Rising Lion’. Iran tried to retaliate, but Israel remained ahead in both these wars due to its more advanced military system and support from the US.
Netanyahu described the biggest attack on Iran in decades as an attempt to remove the ‘nuclear threat’ to Israel. Addressing the people of Iran in a video message, he said the time has come for them to stand up for their freedom from an ‘evil and oppressive regime’ that has ‘never been weaker’.
Large-scale protests began in Iran late last year. US President Donald Trump also put pressure on Iran over its treatment of protesters, forcing it to negotiate a deal. But once again, the dispute remained unresolved due to failure to reach an agreement. Israel’s opposition to the Iranian regime is a major reason behind the lack of agreement.
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