In recent times the tension between Israel And Iran has grown increasingly, especially after the cross-military attacks of April 2024 and the killing of the political leader of HamasIsmail Haniyeh, through a raid on Tehran at the end of July 2024. Iran. The two countries, on the other hand, given their position and influence in the Middle East, would aspire to become the main geopolitical power in the region. However, relations between the two states have not always been what we see today. In this article we briefly look at the history of the geopolitical bilateral relations Between Iran and Israel in recent decades and the reasons historical of the current situation.
Iran and Israel in the post-war period: relaxed relations with the Shah
When, after the Second World Warbegan to be discussed the Partition Plan for Palestine in 1948, Iran was among the countries that opposed the plan proposed by the UN, being in favor of a Palestinian Federal Statewith a single Parliament and divided into Arab and Jewish cantons. Despite this, together with Turkey, it was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize the Jewish state. In 1953 in Iran there was a coup, the so-called Operation Ajaxsupported by the United States, during which the Iranian Shah Reza Pahlavi overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mossadeq. During this period the Iran-Israel relations improved significantly until the Iranian revolution in 1979.
In fact, during the Cold War, the two countries were both allies of the Western bloc, and their commercial partnership also increased, as Iran became one of the main oil suppliers For IsraelThe two countries also had other common interests, how to combat Iranian opposition factions that wanted to overthrow the government of the Shah of Persia and who supported the militias of the Hezbollah in Lebanon in an anti-Israeli perspective. Before the Iranian revolution of 1979, Iranian opposition groups also began to establish ties with thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the “Cold Peace”
In the 1979 began the Iranian revolutionfollowing which the Islamic Republic of Iran. From this point on, relations between Israel and Iran changed significantly: the Shiite Islamic groups, in fact, they no longer recognized the legitimacy of the State of Israel and a period called “cold peace” which lasted until the early 1990s, during which Iranian support for Palestinian cause increased more and more and Iran took the opportunity to take the lead on the Palestinian question not from the perspective of an Arab nationalist cause, but as a cause of the whole Islamic world. Despite this, Israel provided anyway military and logistical support to Iran in the war with theIraq during the 1980s (1980-1988), in order to contain the Sunni-majority country and against Saddam Hussein.
The end of the Cold War and the worsening of relations
With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of theUSSR a change of scenery began to occur: Israelin fact, with the new government of Yitzchak Rabinbegan to increasingly establish itself as hegemonic actor in the region. At the same time, it began to take a tougher stance towards the Palestinian population, not respecting the territorial borders established by the United Nations Oslo Accords. This situation resulted in what is known as the First Intifada. This change of pace by Israel led Iran to assume an increasingly rigid position, both in support of the Palestinian cause and in financing the militias of the Hezbollah in LebanonThat Israel invaded in 1982.
Recent developments, hatred and open challenge
Since the beginning of 2000, in particular with the government of Mahmoud AhmadinejadIran took an increasingly hostile stance toward Israel, declaring that it wanted to wipe it off the map. Tensions mounted during the second 2006 Lebanon-Israel war, during which the‘Iran financed and militarily supported Hezbollah. In addition to this, tensions between the two countries have also been generated by Iranian military funding to Islamic movements as the Jihad Islamic and Hamas (with drones, missiles and Fajr-5 rockets) and the development of the nuclear technology Iranian, which Iran claims is developed only for civil purposes, but which is view from Israel and from the West as a serious threat to safety planetary.
