Iran–Israel relations
Iran |
Israel |
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The relations between Iran and Israel are divided into four major phases: the ambivalent period from 1947 to 1953, the friendly period during the era of the Pahlavi dynasty from 1953 to 1979, the worsening period following the Iranian Revolution from 1979 to 1990, and the ongoing period of open hostility since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. In 1947, Iran was among 13 countries that voted against the United Nations Partition Plan for the British Mandate of Palestine. Two years later, Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the United Nations.
Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel as a sovereign state after Turkey.[1] After the 1953 coup d'état, which reinstalled the pro-Western leader Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran,[2] relations between the two countries significantly improved.[1]
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran severed all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, and its
Since 1985, Iran and Israel have been engaged in an ongoing proxy conflict that has greatly affected the geopolitics of the Middle East, and has included direct military confrontations between Iranian and Israeli organizations, such as in the 2006 Lebanon War. The conflict has played out in various ways, including through support for opposing factions in conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Iran has provided support to the Syrian government, while Israel has supported opposition groups. In Yemen, Iran has provided support to the Houthi rebels, while Israel has provided support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels. The conflict has also involved cyber attacks and sabotage against each other's infrastructure, including attacks on nuclear facilities and oil tankers. Overall, the Iran-Israel proxy conflict is a complex and ongoing conflict that has had a significant impact on the political and security dynamics of the Middle East.
Timeline
Pre-modern background
The beginnings of
The
'Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people—may Yahweh, his God, be with him—let him go there.' (2 Chronicles 36:23)
This edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.
"In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.' (Ezra 6:3–5)
As a result of Cyrus's policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. There is no evidence that the declaration reflected a unique attitude toward Jews. Rather, it may have been part of his renowned tolerance toward the cultures and religions of the people under his rule. The historical nature of this decree has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000.[5] Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree "dubious", citing Grabbe and adding that J. Briend argued against "the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom".[6] Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus, like earlier rules, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer. He also wrote that "appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control".[7]
According to the Bible, Cyrus ordered rebuilding the Second Temple in the same place as the first; he died before it was completed. Darius the Great came to power in the Persian empire and ordered the completion of the temple. According to the Bible, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah urged this work. The temple was ready for consecration in the spring of 515 BCE, more than twenty years after the Jews' return to Jerusalem.
According to the
Israeli independence to Iranian revolution (1947–1979)
In 1947, Iran was one of the 11 members that formed the Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) charged to investigate the cause of the conflict in Palestine Mandate, and, if possible, devise a solution. After much deliberation the committee presented a Partition Plan for Palestine, which had the support of 8 of the 11 members of UNSCOP. Iran along with India and Yugoslavia opposed the plan, predicting it would lead to an escalation of violence. Arguing that peace could only be established through a single federal state, Iran voted against the partition plan when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi predicted that the partition would lead to generations of fighting.
In Spring of 1948, 30,000 Iranians in Tehran gathered to protest against the establishment of Israel.[9]
After the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, Israel and Iran maintained close ties. Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel[10] as a sovereign state after Turkey.[11][12] Israel viewed Iran as a natural ally as a non-Arab power on the edge of the Arab world, in accordance with David Ben Gurion's concept of an alliance of the periphery. Israel had a permanent delegation in Tehran which served as a de facto embassy, before Ambassadors were exchanged in the late 1970s.[13][14] Ayotallah Abol-Ghasem Kashani criticized his government's decision to recognize Israel. Kashani, who had supported anti-colonial movements in Egypt and Tunisia, saw Israel as a colonial outpost.[15]
In 1949, Ayotallah Taleghani also criticized the Iranian government's diplomatic relations with Israel[16] and lamented that the Iranian government restricted pro-Palestinian meetings.[16] SAVAK documents show the Iranian public was sympathetic to Palestinians,[17] and Iranians often donated their zakat to Palestinians.[17] By 1970, the Iranian government tried to prevent such fundraising efforts.[18] SAVAK detained and surveilled Ayotallah Motahhari and pressured him to stop fundraising, but Motahhari refused.[19]
After the Six-Day War, Iran supplied Israel with a significant portion of its oil needs and Iranian oil was shipped to European markets via the joint Israeli-Iranian Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline.[20][21] Trade between the countries was brisk,[22] with Israeli construction firms and engineers active in Iran. El Al, the Israeli national airline, operated direct flights between Tel Aviv and Tehran.[23] Iranian-Israeli military links and projects were kept secret, but they are believed to have been wide-ranging,[24] for example the joint military project Project Flower (1977–79), an Iranian-Israeli attempt to develop a new missile.[25][26]
Debts
As at 1979, Israel owed about a billion dollars to Iran for business conducted before the Iranian revolution. Some of the debt arose from oil purchased by Israel, and a larger amount from the operation of the Trans-Israel oil pipeline and associated port facilities, which were a joint venture between Israeli companies and the National Iranian Oil Company. Israel decided against paying the debt at a meeting in 1979 and granted legal indemnity to Israeli companies which owed it. At least one Israeli bank account is known to hold $250 million owed to Iran.
Since the 1980s, Iran has been suing in the European courts for payment of the debts and has won several cases. Payment of the debts is legally complicated by the international sanctions against Iran and by the fact that Israel classifies Iran as an enemy state.[27] In May 2015, a Swiss court ordered the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company to pay $1.1 billion to Iran, which Israel refuses to do.[28]
Under Khomeini (1979–1989)
Following the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979, Iran adopted a sharp anti-Israel stance. Iran cut off all official relations with Israel;[29] official statements, state institutes, and events. Iran ceased to accept Israeli passports, and the holders of Iranian passports were banned from travelling to "the occupied Palestine".[30] The Israeli Embassy in Tehran was closed and handed over to the PLO.[31] Ayatollah Khomeini declared Israel an "enemy of Islam" and the "Little Satan".[32] The United States was called the "Great Satan" while the Soviet Union was called the "Lesser Satan".
According to Trita Parsi, Iran's strategic imperatives compelled the Khomeini government to maintain clandestine ties to Israel, while hope that the periphery doctrine could be resurrected motivated the Jewish State's assistance to Iran.[33] At the same time, Iran provided support for Islamist-Shia Lebanese parties, helping to consolidate them into a single political and military organization, Hezbollah, and providing them the ideological indoctrination, military training and equipment to attack Israeli and American targets.[34]
Israeli logistical support for Iran during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)
Israel sold Iran US$75 million worth of arms from stocks of Israel Military Industries, Israel Aircraft Industries and Israel Defense Forces stockpiles, in their Operation Seashell in 1981.[35] Material included 150 M-40 antitank guns with 24,000 shells for each gun, spare parts for tank and aircraft engines, 106 mm, 130 mm, 203 mm and 175 mm shells and TOW missiles. This material was transported first by air by Argentine airline Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense and then by ship. The same year Israel provided active military support against Iraq by destroying the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, which the Iranians themselves had previously targeted, but the doctrine established by the attack would increase potential conflict in future years.
Arms sales to Iran that totaled an estimated $500 million from 1981 to 1983 according to the Jafe Institute for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. Most of it was paid for by Iranian oil delivered to Israel. "According to Ahmad Haidari, "an Iranian arms dealer working for the Khomeini government, roughly 80% of the weaponry bought by Tehran" immediately after the onset of the war originated in Israel.[36]
According to Mark Phythian, the fact "that the Iranian air force could function at all" after Iraq's initial attack and "was able to undertake a number of sorties over Baghdad and strike at strategic installations" was "at least partly due to the decision of the Reagan administration to allow Israel to channel arms of US origin to Iran to prevent an easy and early Iraqi victory".[37]
Despite all the speeches of Iranian leaders and the denunciation of Israel at
Israeli sales also included spare parts for U.S.-made F-4 Phantom jets.[39] Ariel Sharon believed it was important to "leave a small window open" to the possibility of good relations with Iran in the future.[40]
Increasing tensions (1989–present)
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
In December 2000, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a "cancerous tumour" that should be removed from the region.[41][42] In 2005, he emphasized that "Palestine belongs to Palestinians, and the fate of Palestine should also be determined by the Palestinian people".[43] In 2005 Khamenei clarified Iran's position after an international furor erupted over a remark attributed to President Ahmadinejad according to which Israel should be "wiped off the map" by saying that "the Islamic Republic has never threatened and will never threaten any country".[44]
On 15 August 2012, during a meeting with veterans of the Iran–Iraq War, Khamenei said that he was confident that "the superfluous and fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape".[45] On 19 August, he reiterated comments made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which members of the international community, including the United States, France, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned,[46] during which he called Israel a "cancerous tumour in the heart of the Islamic world" and said that its existence is responsible for many problems facing the Muslim world.[47]
On 9 September 2015, Khamenei said in his speech during the discussion about the JCPOA: "I'd say to Israel that they will not see the end of these 25 years". These words were expressed in response to the Zionist regime, which said that had no more concern about Iran for the next 25 years after the JCPOA agreement.[48]
Khatami presidency (1997–2005)
Under reformist Iranian President
Ahmadinejad presidency (2005–2013)
The election of Mahmud Ahmedinijiad, a hardliner of Iranian politics, relations with Israel became increasingly strained as the countries engaged in a series of proxy conflicts and covert operations against each other.
During the
During and immediately after the
In 2010, a wave of assassinations targeting Iranian nuclear scientists began. The assassinations were widely believed to be the work of
In June 2010, Stuxnet, an advanced computer worm, was discovered. It is believed that it had been developed by US and Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.[59] In a study conducted by Institute for Science and International Security it is estimated that Stuxnet might have damaged as many as 1,000 centrifuges (10% of all installed) in the Natanz enrichment plant.[60] Other computer viruses and malware, including Duqu and Flame, were reportedly related to Stuxnet.[61][62] Iran claims that its adversaries regularly engineer sales of faulty equipment and attacks by computer viruses to sabotage its nuclear program.[63][64][65]
On 15 March 2011,
In response to Israeli covert operations, Iranian agents reportedly began trying to hit Israeli and Jewish targets; potential targets were then placed on high alert.
In late February 2012, the
On 18 July 2012, a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria was destroyed in a bombing attack that killed five Israeli tourists and the driver, and injured 32 people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and Hezbollah for the attack.[82] In July 2012, a senior Israeli defense official stated that since May 2011, more than 20 terrorist attacks planned by Iran and Hezbollah against Israeli targets worldwide had been foiled, including in South Africa, Azerbaijan, Kenya, Turkey, Thailand, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Nepal, and Nigeria, and that Iranian and Hezbollah operatives were incarcerated in jails throughout the world.[83][84][85][86]
On 6 October 2012, Israeli airplanes shot down a small
On 30 January 2013, Israeli aircraft allegedly
On 7 May 2013, residents of Tehran reported hearing three blasts in an area where Iran maintains its missile research and depots. Later, an Iranian website said the blasts occurred at a privately owned chemical factory.[100]
Rouhani presidency (2013–2021)
In the Syrian Arab Republic
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the
Since the onset of the Syrian War, the Israeli military is reportedly preparing itself for potential threats should there be a power vacuum in Syria. "After Assad and after establishing or strengthening their foothold in Syria they are going to move and deflect their effort and attack Israel", an Israeli official told The Associated Press in January 2014. Some experts[who?] say that while the encroaching militant forces on Israel's border will heighten security measures, the advancements are not likely to create significant changes to Israel's policy disengagement in the Syria crisis.[101] IAF has been suspected of a number of airstrikes on Syrian soil, allegedly targeting Iranian and Hezbollah targets.[102] According to the Israeli military, since 2017 it has carried out over 400 airstrikes in Syria (and other areas in the Middle East) targeting Iran and its allies.[103]
In Israel
A court in Jerusalem has sentenced an Israeli man, Yitzhak Bergel to four-and-a-half years in prison for offering to spy for Iran. Bergel belongs to the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect which is vehemently opposed to the State of Israel's existence.[104]
International incidents
On 5 March 2014, the Israeli navy intercepted the Klos-C cargo ship. Israel stated Iran was using the vessel to smuggle dozens of long-range rockets to Gaza, including Syrian-manufactured M-302 rockets. The operation, named Full Disclosure and carried out by Shayetet 13 special forces, took place in the Red Sea, 1,500 kilometers away from Israel and some 160 kilometers from Port Sudan.[105]
In Iran
On 6 May 2014, it was reported that a blast shook the Iranian city of Qazvin. Los Angeles Times reported that the city might be home to a secret nuclear facility.[106][107][108][109]
Iranian state media reported that on 24 August 2014,
Two workers were killed in an explosion that took place at a military explosives factory southeast of Tehran, near the suspected nuclear reactor in
Raisi presidency (2021–present)
In Iran
In April 2022, President Ebrahim Raisi declared in the speech for military parade that "Iran's armed forces will target Israel's heart if it makes 'the slightest move'".[114]
In May 2022, Colonel Sayad Khodayee was killed outside his home in Tehran by two gunmen on motorcycles. Iran blamed Israel for this. The spokeswoman of the Israeli prime minister refuse to "comment on the killing". But an unnamed intelligence official of Israel reported to NYT that Israel was responsible for the killing.[115][116]
As NYT reported, Iran accused Israel of killing two Iranian scientists by "poisoning their food", according to an Iranian official who did not want to be named. The two scientists were Ayoub Entezari, an aeronautical engineer who worked for a military research center, and Kamran Aghamolaei, a geologist. Israeli media and Persian news channels abroad claimed that "Mr. Aghamolaei worked at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility".[117][118]
International incidents
On 1 April 2024, the Iranian consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, was struck by an Israeli airstrike, killing 16 people, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior Quds Force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and seven other IRGC officers.[119][120] On 13 April, Iran retaliated against the attack with missile and drone strikes in Israel.[121] On 19 April, Israel launched a series of retaliatory missile strikes on Iranian military sites. Iranian officials have also reported explosions at military sites in Syria and Iraq.[122]
In the media
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Former President
Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA, Soltanieh
In April 2006,
Vice President Mashaei
In a speech at a tourism convention in Tehran in July 2008,
Hardliners close to the government attacked Mashaei's remarks. Ahmadinejad defended him and spoke in his favor. At a news conference, he said, "The Iranian nation never recognized Israel and will never ever recognize it. But we feel pity for those who have been deceived or smuggled into Israel to be oppressed citizens in Israel."[127]
The issue prompted the Supreme Leader of Iran Khamenei to "spell an end to the debates" on Israel. During a Friday sermon in Tehran, he stated, "It is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsensical to say that we are friends with the Israeli people... we are on a collision course with the occupiers of Palestine and the occupiers are the Zionist regime. This is the position of our regime, our revolution and our people."[127]
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami
In August 2012, a senior cleric and Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah
Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali
In August 2012, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali of Iran's Passive Defense Organization said ahead of
In response to these remarks, an Israeli government official said that these remarks were a "reaffirmation of what we continually hear from the Iranian leadership" and that Israel was taking the Iranian threat seriously. The official said that the continual announcement of these remarks show how Iran's leaders believes in them, and that Iran's leadership must end these comments to reduce international pressure.[130][131]
General Mohammad Ali Jafari
On 22 September 2012, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Iranian
Cooperation
Business
After the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, most oil companies left Iran and the Iranian government had major difficulties selling oil in the international markets. In the meantime, Marc Rich, an Israeli-Swiss businessman with international ties, began doing business in Iran through his Glencore company headquartered in Switzerland. Rich ignored US and international sanctions on Iran and became the primary trader of Iranian oil for 15 years.[134] He claimed that the oil he bought from Iran was shipped to Israel and both countries were aware of this transaction.[135] Rich provided the Iranian government with weapons and missiles through the Iran–Iraq War. For his actions, the United States government found him guilty of more than 65 counts of criminal offenses including money laundering and violating sanctions on Iran.[136]
In 1998, the
In 1998, Israeli businessman
Ynet reported that Israeli–Iranian trade, conducted covertly and illegally by dozens of Israeli companies, totals tens of millions of dollars a year. Much of this trade is conducted through a third country. Israel supplies Iran with fertilizer, irrigation pipes, hormones for milk production, seeds, and fruit; Iran, meanwhile, provides Israel with marble, cashews, and pistachios.[146][147][148]
In April 2009 a large batch of oranges carrying stickers of an Israeli company were distributed in the Iranian market. Based on the investigations the oranges were imported from Dubai.[149] In December 2011 Bloomberg reported that most of the filtering equipment currently in use in Iran were bought from an Israeli company called Allot Communications. The system called NetEnforcer allows the government to monitor any device that is connected to the internet. The devices were shipped to Denmark, where the original packaging was removed and replaced with fake labels.[150] Al-Monitor reported in 2013 that the Iranian government asked Israeli experts to visit the earthquake stricken areas in the province of Sistan in 2006. Based on the report the Israeli experts spent the passover of 2006 in Iran.[151][152]
Military relations
Pre-revolution
Israel was involved in the arming of Iran during the Pahlavi dynasty:
- Project "Flower" Tzur (see also Project Flower), a joint collaboration between Iran and Israel, aimed to develop a "state-of-the-art sea-to-sea missile, an advanced version of the U.S. Harpoon missile, with a range of 200 kilometers".[153]
- Israeli Defense Minister General Ezer Weizmann and Iranian Vice Minister of War General Hassan Toufanian discussed the co-production of Israel's Jericho-2 missile, code named Project Flower.[154]
Khomeini era
The Observer estimated that Israel's arms sales to Iran during the Iran–Iraq War totaled US$500 million annually,[155] and Time reported that throughout 1981 and 1982, "the Israelis reportedly set up Swiss bank accounts to handle the financial end of the deals".[156][157]
According to the report of the U.S. Congressional Committees Investigating the
Disputed issues
Iranian funding of Hamas and Hezbollah
Iran provides political and financial support and weapons to Hamas,[162] an organization committed to the destruction of Israel by Jihad.[163] According to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority: "Hamas is funded by Iran. It claims it is financed by donations, but the donations are nothing like what it receives from Iran."[164][165]
Iran has also provided support to Hezbollah, another enemy of Israel, with substantial amounts of funding, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid while persuading Hezbollah to take an action against Israel.[166][167][168][169] Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as "Israel's final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration"[170] According to reports released in February 2010, Hezbollah received $400 million from Iran.[168]
Nuclear program of Iran
Iran threatening Israel
The nuclear program of Iran with its potential to develop nuclear weapons, together with the anti-Israel rhetoric of the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his desire for "the regime occupying Jerusalem" to "vanish from the pages of time", has led many Israelis to expect an eventual attack from Iran.[171][172]
In May 2012, Iran's Military Chief of Staff declared: "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause and that is the full annihilation of Israel."[173]
In August 2012, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, who heads Iran's Passive Defense Organization, said ahead of Al-Quds Day that Israel must be destroyed, saying: "[Al-Quds Day] is a reflection of the fact that no other way exists apart from resolve and strength to completely eliminate the aggressive nature and to destroy Israel."[130][131][132]
In August 2012, a senior cleric and Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, speaking about
Iran's repeated threats against Israel, particularly in 2012, led Canada, am ally of Israel, to close its embassy in Iran on 7 September 2012, and give Iranian diplomats five days to leave.
On 21 September 2012, at a military parade in Iran to mark the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War, and in which a new air defense system was unveiled, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Iranian air force chief, said that should a conflict between Iran and Israel break out, Israel would "manage the beginning of the war, but the response and end would be in our hands, in which case the Zionist entity would cease to exist. The number of missiles launched would be more than the Zionists could imagine."[174]
On 22 September 2012, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Iranian
On 23 September 2012, Hajizadeh threatened to attack Israel and trigger World War III, saying that "it is possible that we will make a pre-emptive attack" which would "turn into World War III". He threatened to attack American bases in the Middle East as well, and said that as a result of this attack, Israel would "sustain heavy damage and that will be a prelude to its obliteration".[175] On the same day, Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Hossein Salami said that while Iran isn't concerned by Israeli "threats" to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, such an attack would be "a historic opportunity for the Islamic Revolution to wipe them off the world's geographic history".[176]
On 2 October 2012, Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi, the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Iranian
Iran's actions, nuclear program, and threats have been viewed by
In January 2013, Iran warned that any Israeli attack on Syria would be treated the same as an attack on Iran.[179] After Israel attacked Syria, Iran simply stated that Israel would "regret this recent aggression".[180]
In March 2015, the commander of the Basij militia of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that "erasing Israel off the map is not negotiable".[181]
On 6 June 2023, IRGC unveiled
Israel threatening Iran
In November 2003 a Scottish newspaper claimed that Israel "warned that it is prepared to take unilateral military action against Iran if the international community fails to stop any development of nuclear weapons at the country's atomic energy facilities".
On 8 May 2006, then Israeli Vice Premier
According to the New York Times, Israel sought help from the United States for a military attack against Iran.[192] Israel reportedly asked for bunker-busting bombs for an attack on Iran's main nuclear complex and for permission to fly over Iraq to reach Iran's major nuclear complex at Natanz. The Bush administration rejected the requests. According to the article, White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before President Bush left office.[192]
On 27 July 2009, Israel's Defence Minister
In 2010, Gabi Ashkenazi and Meir Dagan balked at Benjamin Netanyahu's preparations for a strike on Iran.[195]
On 5 November 2012, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his willingness to mount a unilateral attack on Iran's nuclear facilities even without US support.[196]
In 2013, retiring defense minister Ehud Barak said that though it would be very difficult for Israel to operate alone, that Obama had ordered the Pentagon to prepare detailed plans for an American strike on Iran.[197]
Netanyahu said in September 2013 that President Hassan Rouhani is trying to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that his perception as a moderate makes him a "wolf in sheep's clothing".[198]
In January 2014, during a plenary session at the 9th World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, the President of Israel Shimon Peres said in response to a question about the threat of Iran's nuclear program that "Iran is not an enemy", and there are no historical hostilities between the two countries. In that regard he added: "I don't see a reason to spend so much money in the name of hatred".[199]
In May 2018, it was revealed that Prime Minister Netanyahu had ordered the Mossad and military in 2011 to prepare for an attack on Iran within 15 days of receiving the order.[200] According to Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, Netanyahu backed off after he and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz questioned Netanyahu's legal right to give such an order without Cabinet approval.[200]
On May 29, 2022, Israeli Prime Minister warned that Iran will not go unpunished for inspiring assaults through its proxies.[201]
On June 27, 2022, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz indicated that Israel will cooperate with world powers to influence any agreement that might result from Iran's nuclear negotiations.[202]
Speculation
On 26 May 2006, then Russian Defense Minister
In June 2008, Israel conducted a major military exercise that American officials speculated might be training for a bombing attack on Iran. A senior Pentagon official said one of the goals of the exercise was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily: "They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know", the Pentagon official said. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."[204]
The Bush administration did agree to sell a thousand GBU-39 standoff bunker penetrating bombs to Israel, but a strike against Natanz would require hundreds of these bombs.[205]
In a 2009 interview, American diplomat
In April 2009, Army General David Petraeus said "the Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it".[207] On 17 September 2009, Ze'ev Elkin said that the delivery by Russia of S-300 missiles may prompt Israel to strike Iran.[208] In June 2010 Russia voted for UN sanctions to prevent the S-300 missile sale.[209]
Iran consistently claimed that its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes, and that it has no intention of ever utilizing its peaceful nuclear program to develop nuclear weapons. During the course of Iran's recent history, specifically during the Iran-Iraq war, Iran has experienced significant outages of its commercial electricity grid. Iran has also continuously claimed that it intends to ultimately export part of the electricity produced by its nuclear reactors to its regional neighbors, as a way of diversifying its mainly oil-based economy to more diversified revenue streams.
German Defense Minister
Iran responding to Israeli threats
Iran's former foreign minister,
On 7 February 2010, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah
On June 24, 2022, Iran claimed that Yair Lapid's allegations of an Iranian conspiracy to assassinate Israelis in Istanbul were "ridiculous" and intended to sour relations between Iran and Turkey.[214]
On July 15, 2022, the Iranian military cautioned Israel and the US not to use force against Iran: “The Americans and Zionists know very well the price for using the word 'force against Iran'." State media cited Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman for the Iranian armed forces.[215]
See also
- 2021 Natanz incident
- 2023 American–Middle East conflict
- Arab League–Iran relations
- History of the Jews in Iran
- International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
- International Holocaust Cartoon Competition
- International recognition of Israel
- Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- Iranian Jews in Israel
- Israel–Saudi Arabia relations
- Persian Jews
- Tehran – Haifa – Tel Aviv
- Visa policy of Iran#Israel
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Further reading
- Abbasov, Namig, and Emil A. Souleimanov. "Azerbaijan, Israel, and Iran: An Unlikely Triangle Shaping the Northern Middle East." Middle East Policy 29.1 (2022): 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/mepo.12611
- Alavi, Seyed Ali (2019). Iran and Palestine: Past, Present, Future. Routledge.
- Bakhash, Shaul. "Iran's Relations with Israel, Syria, and Lebanon." in Iran at the Crossroads (Routledge, 2019) pp. 115-128.
- Beck, Martin. "The aggravated struggle for regional power in the Middle East: American allies Saudi Arabia and Israel versus Iran." Global Policy 11.1 (2020) pp: 84-92.
- Cohen, Ronen A.; Lev, Tzvi (2021). "A Triangle of Interests: Azerbaijan, Iran and Israel". Iran and the Caucasus. 25 (1): 74–89. S2CID 236630765.
- Hadar, Maya. "From Allies to Enemies; Putting the Israeli-Iranian Conflict in Historical Context." in Instrumentalizing the Past (De Gruyter, 2022) pp. 213-230. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110769791
- Holliday, Shabnam J. "Populism, the international and methodological nationalism: Global order and the Iran–Israel nexus." Political Studies 68.1 (2020): 3-19. online
- Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh (2023). "On Shaky Ground: Iran between Israel and Pan-Arabism, 1930s–1970s". Middle Eastern Studies. 59 (6): 950–967. S2CID 256891994.
- Kaye, Dalia Dassa, and Shira Efron. "Israel’s evolving Iran policy." Survival 62.4 (2020): 7-30. online
- Teitelbaum, Joshua (2008). What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel (PDF). OCLC 273327634. Retrieved 24 February 2012.