The conflict between Israel and Iran is still escalating, 6 days after Israel launched a large-scale airstrike operation targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities. At least 224 Iranians have died in these attacks, and 24 Israelis in the subsequent retaliation by Iran. Embassies in Tehran now urge their nationals to evacuate the city.
While these events occur in the context of a decades-long rivalry between Israel and Iran, the relations between the two countries have greatly evolved since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and there was a time when Israel considered Iran its greatest friend in the region. Amid the growing conflict between the two countries, let's go back to the history of the relations between the two countries.
Early cooperation between Israel and the Shah's regime
Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, most Muslim-majority countries refused to recognise it. Iran, a predominantly Shia country with a long imperial history and uneasy relations with Arab states, was an exception. While Iran did not officially recognise Israel, the two countries developed discreet and pragmatic relations rooted in shared strategic concerns.
Iran's leader, Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, was restored to power in 1953 thanks to a coup largely orchestrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency. The Shah's regime then became a key ally of the US in the region and aligned its foreign policy with the Western powers during the Cold War.
It was then natural that cooperation grew with Israel, the other Western-backed state in the region. The two countries developed tacit military, economic, and intelligence cooperation based on shared geopolitical interests, notably the fear of Soviet communism, but also Pan-Arabism. Israel provided military advisors and technical support to Iran, helping the development of infrastructure and the Iranian military-industrial complex, while Iran supplied Israel with oil.
The Shah, however, never embraced Israel publicly, being aware of the strong anti-Israeli sentiment in the Middle East.
Continuous cooperation after the Islamic Revolution
The outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the establishment of the new Islamic Republic did not at first end this cooperation, which continued well into the 1980s, though on a much more limited scale.
The ideological hostility between the new regime and Israel was no secret but came second to shared interests, as both countries used the other as a counterweight to the Arab world, and notably Iraq. Israel supported Iran in its war against Saddam Hussein, going against US foreign policy that backed the Iraqis.
Surge in rivalry in the early 2000s
However, relations stalled during the 1990s, and by the early 2000s, the Israeli-Iranian rivalry emerged as a defining feature of the regional landscape.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq led to the defeat of longstanding Iranian adversaries (the Taliban and Saddam Hussein), allowing the spread of Iranian influence. Iran strengthened its ties with Hamas and Hezbollah, leaving Israel feeling threatened in areas directly bordering it.
The two countries fought each other by proxy wars, Iran offering military support to Hezbollah in 2006, then Hamas in 2008, in their wars against Israel.
Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities during the 2010s further fuelled Israel's perception of Iran as its main and most dangerous regional opponent, as Iran felt more and more threatened by growing cooperation between Israel and the Gulf countries.
By the 2020s, the rivalry between Iran and Israel had escalated into a shadow war, involving drone attacks, cyber warfare and maritime sabotage.