How Iran and Israel became enemies

Diplomacy Between Iran and Israel during the Pahlavi Dynasty: U.S. Response to the April 11, 2017 Damascus Attack

U.S. officials say that they have sent messages to allies with closer ties to Tehran to urge Iran to exercise restraint. The U.S. officials noted that the U.S. has also relayed the same message directly to Iranian officials.

The launch came four days after the Iranian leader vowed to retaliate for the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Iran said the strike had killed seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals, and it blamed Israel for the attack.

Iran also has provided support to Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have fired ballistic missiles at the Israeli resort town Eilat on the Red Sea, and attacked shipping vessels — attacks which the Houthi rebels say are in support of Hamas.

Iranian-Israeli bilateral ties were not bad despite the Pahlavi dynasty being in power for more than half a century. Iran was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel.

Iran continues to insist that its program is 100% peaceful, although certain incidents, such as an unexplained discovery of uranium particles at sites Iran never disclosed to the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, trouble critics who doubt Iran’s motives.

A series of sabotage attacks continued into the 2020s, as Israel sought to damage Iranian nuclear facilities. Nuclear scientists were targeted as well. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was seen by some as a blow to Tehran and a victory for Israel.

Even so, limited cooperation between Israel and Iran continued into the 1980s. As Iran funded and built proxy militias and other groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, they created a hostile rivalry. The war of words between Iran and Israel grew over the years.

Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, though, sent relations between the two nations into a tailspin. The Islamic Republic of Iran had a new leader who stood up to “arrogant” world powers after Shah Mohammad Pahlavi was ousted. Iran regarded the U.S. as the “Great Satan,” and Israel as the “Little Satan” during his regime.

The Israel-Hamas War During the 1948 Oslo Reionization Process: State of the State and Recent Security Threats to Israel

The Palestinians saw that recognition as a tacit acceptance of the situation when Israel was created in 1948, where more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes.

Iran, however, wasted no time in hailing the Hamas attack as a “victory.” Iran’s ISNA news agency stated that the Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the attack was in line with the victories of the anti-Zionist resistance.

The video was put together by Israel and shows Hamas killing human beings. Human Rights Watch verified some of the videos of the attack, and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the attacks as war crimes.

Many countries have issued warnings to their citizens not to visit the region, as tensions flare and fears grow that an Iranian attack may be imminent — and the war in Gaza may spread.

In the six months since Oct. 7, Israel has bombarded Gaza and conducted a devastating ground invasion that has left much of the territory in ruins and more than 33,000 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian health officials.

Many officials worldwide expressed their worry since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, and they were not the only ones.

“President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. “The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

“Iran is a terrorist state — the world is seeing this now more than ever,” Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday, hours before the launch. “We are determined to defend our citizens against this terrorism, and we know how to respond to it.”

By Saturday, as anticipation had grown over a possible retaliation, Israeli officials warned residents living in communities near Gaza and the Lebanon border to limit the size of gatherings and to work indoors or within reach of a shelter. Schools across Israel were closed through Monday.

Israeli Defense Forces in the Light of Netanyahu’s “Resilient Action” against the September 11 attacks on the Asymptotic Freedom of Israel

The launch was confirmed by the White House, where a spokesperson said President Biden would monitor the attack from the Situation Room alongside top defense and diplomatic officials.

We have determined a principle: Whoever harms us, we will hurt them. We will defend ourselves against any threat and will do so level-headedly and with determination,” Netanyahu said.

In a Saturday night address to Israelis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country was ready for “any scenario, both defensively and offensively.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched missiles and drones against targets in Israel.

The drones would take hours to arrive in Israeli airspace, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. He warned Israelis to stay in safe rooms for 10 minutes if sirens in their areas go off.