- Israel and Iran - nations that were once friends, even allies - are staring at an all-out armed conflict.
- Back in 1948, Iran was among very few Muslim-majority nations that recognised the new country of Israel.
- The formal break up happened in 1979 when Iran declared Israel an "enemy of Islam" and "Little Satan".
On June 13 morning Israel targeted nuclear sites and military installations across Iran, killing nuclear scientists and senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers. There were civilian casualties too, Tehran claimed. The attacks preceded Iran-United States talks over the latter's escalating uranium enrichment, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Tel Aviv views as "threats" to its survival.
By June 13 evening Iran had responded, firing ballistic missiles at Israeli military sites, including those used to refuel fighter jets and warplanes. Some even snuck past Israel's famed 'Iron Dome' air defence, hitting parts of central Tel Aviv, which is where the Israeli Defence Forces is headquartered.
The conflict between the two is now in its fifth day and shows no sign of stopping; on Monday more Israeli missiles pounded Tehran and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said the war could only end with the death of his counterpart, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
READ | Israel's Attack On Iran Was Years In The Making. How Did They Get Here?
The attacks also marked the latest military escalation in the West Asia region since Israeli strikes on Gaza - the result of Hamas' October 7 terror attacks - began in 2023, and heightened fears of an all-out armed conflict between nations that were once friends, even allies.
READ | Ahead Of Israel Strikes, Iran Was Close To Building Nuclear Bomb
Their more recent history, though, is mired in animosity and conflict, with Netanyahu pointing to Tehran's controversial nuclear programme and painting Iran as "the greatest threat... to Israel's very survival." And Iran has accused Israel of repeated sabotage attacks and assassinations.
When They Were 'Friends'
Back in 1948, most Muslim-majority countries in West Asia refused to recognise the new country of Israel. The big exception was Shia-majority Iran and Turkey, Islamic states that recognised the sovereign state of Israel. The connection was the US.
At the time Iran, with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi at the helm, had shifted consciously closer to the West, proving itself a key regional ally of the US during the Cold War. The newly formed state of Israel, requiring American support to stay afloat, seemed to find a natural partner.
READ | Iran And Israel's Open Warfare After Decades Of Shadow War
And then, over the next couple of decades ex-Israel Prime Minister David Ben Gurion led the country through his Periphery Doctrine - an effort to ally with non-Arab states.
Iran, Turkey, and Ethiopia emerged as the key players.
The four nations expected to benefit from economic cooperation, including arms sales, and intelligence sharing, particularly between Israel's Mossad and Iran's SAVAK. Iran also supplied Israel with crude oil after the Six Day War resulted in Arab nations boycotting the latter.
And trade and infrastructure growth in Iran were supported by Israel.
All seemed to be going well. But then the Islamic Revolution swept through Iran in 1979 and there was a fundamental shift in Iran-Israel relations, a change underpinned by the overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei.
The Break Up
The break-up had been coming. Even during times of cooperation there were Islamist elements in Iran that were advocating for Palestinians, often raising funds for their use.
After 1979 there was a sharp break; Iran refused to accept Israeli passports, for example, and Iranian passport holders were banned from travelling to "occupied Palestine".
And so, Israel was declared an 'enemy of Islam' and 'Little Satan'.
In the 1980s and 90s Iran emerged as a sponsor of armed groups - starting with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982 after Israel's invasion of that country and then others, like the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza - moving from funding to active training, and then arming them to launch attacks on Israel.
In October 2023 Israel launched a massive military operation against Gaza.
In 1983 Hezbollah suicide bombings - such as the November incident in which a car packed with explosives drove into the Israeli miltiary's HQ in Lebanon - to force the West and Israel to leave.
The bad blood intensified over the next two decades; in December 2000 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a 'cancerous tumour' that should be removed from the region and, five years later, said 'Palestine belongs to Palestinians... fate should be determined by the Palestinian people'.
The Hezbollah and Hamas were targeted and decimated by Israel after the 2023 attack.
And, after Iran launched a pair of missile attacks on Israel last year, Israel responded with strikes of its own, including one that destroyed Iranian missile sites and weakened air defences.
READ | After Years, Israel's Netanyahu Finally Makes His Move On Iran
The collapse of that proxy network, coupled with Iran's new vulnerability, created an opportunity for Israel to strike, and write another bloody chapter in Iran-Israel ties.
After it was written, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel had "crossed a new red line" by targeting his country's nuclear sites and that the attack was an "attempt to undermine diplomacy..."
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