New Delhi:
Iran fired 200 missiles containing hypersonic weapons at Israel on Tuesday, as tensions in the Middle East reach breaking point. Israel has vowed that Iran will “pay” for the attack. However, relations between the two countries were not necessarily sour. Inconceivable as it may seem, Israel and Iran, with the support of the United States, worked together to fight a common enemy.
In the 1960s, Israel and Iran were mutual enemies in Iraq. While Israel was embroiled in a broader struggle against hostile Arab regimes, Iran under the Shah saw Iraq's leadership as a direct threat to its security and regional ambitions. This laid the foundation for one of the most secretive partnerships of the time, involving the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and Iran's secret police SAVAK, both of which were important in strengthening the Kurdish rebels against the Iraqi central regime. played a role. These Kurdish groups were considered the Achilles' heel of Iraq's Arab nationalist leadership and were crucial in weakening the Iraqi government from within.
Cooperation between Israel and Iran reached new heights with the formation of a trilateral intelligence alliance codenamed “Trident” that also included Turkey. Starting in 1958, Trident saw these three non-Arab powers exchange vital intelligence and engage in joint counterintelligence operations. As relations matured, Israel and Iran became even closer, forming deep military and intelligence ties that lasted into the Shah's reign.
Shah's ambitions and Israeli influence
The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was driven not only by common geopolitical interests but also by a belief in Israeli influence in Washington. The Shah saw Israel as a potential means of strengthening ties with the United States, especially after the Kennedy administration expressed concerns about authoritarian rule.
The rapid growth of Israeli-Iranian relations became a key feature of Iran's strategy to align itself with the West, resulting in the establishment of a permanent Israeli mission in Tehran by the mid-1960s, which served as a de facto embassy. did.
Iranian King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and US President Jimmy Carter
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However, the relationship was not without its complications. The Shah was aware of the widespread anti-Israel sentiment throughout the Arab world and carefully managed the public aspects of Iran-Israel relations. Although he became more critical of Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, his strategic interests continued to outweigh his ideological and diplomatic positions.
shadow cooperation
The 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution drastically changed the country's political landscape, turning it into an anti-Israel Islamic Republic. But even after Khomeini took power, the new regime found itself quietly collaborating with Israel, once again driven by a common enemy. As the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) dragged on, both countries recognized the benefits of cooperating against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Israel also saw an opportunity in supporting Iran. It viewed Saddam Hussein's Iraq as a more immediate and dangerous threat to its security, especially given Baghdad's regional dominance ambitions and pursuit of nuclear capabilities. Iraq's formidable military, supplied by both the United States and the Soviet Union, poses risks, and Israel's arms shipments to Iran, especially after Prime Minister Menachem Begin approved the sale of military equipment in 1980, were It was a calculated decision to weaken the .
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (left) chats with Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat at his home as the ministers discuss events in Iran in 1979.
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These secret arms deals took place despite America's policy of prohibiting military aid to Iran until American hostages held in Tehran are released. In exchange for Israeli military aid, Khomeini's regime allowed a significant number of Iranian Jews to immigrate to Israel or the United States, a concession that underscored the pragmatic nature of the relationship.
Iran-Contra incident
By the mid-1980s, Iran's need for military assistance reached a critical point. The Iran-Iraq War had depleted the country's resources and the economy was on the verge of collapse. It was against this background that the Iran-Contra incident broke out. This was a secret, high-stakes, high-stakes project involving arms sales facilitated by Israel, with support from senior Ronald Reagan administration officials, to secure the release of American hostages held by Iran-backed Hezbollah. That was the plan. In Lebanon.
Algerian President Houri Boumedienne (centre), Iran's Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi (left) and Iraq's Saddam Hussein (right) stand together in 1975.
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For Israel, these arms deals were lucrative and strategically valuable, further strengthening its role as Iran's secret ally in the war against Iraq. Desiring weapons and resources, Iran was willing to engage with both Israel and the United States, even as it continued to slander Israel in public.
Top secret missile program Operation Flower
The Israeli-Iranian partnership has expanded beyond regular arms deals. One of the most ambitious projects was Operation Flower, a secret multibillion-dollar program that began in 1977 during the Shah's regime. The project involved modifying a surface-to-surface missile that could potentially carry a nuclear warhead for sale to Iran. However, the core aspects of this project were not pursued.
As part of the agreement, Iran made a large down payment by sending $260 million worth of oil to Israel in 1978. New York Times coverage Since 1986, he claimed. Work on the missile program continued until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Khomeini's government abruptly halted cooperation.
Spare tire for F-4 fighter jet
According to the report, in October 1980, when Iran was at war with Iraq, Israel secretly supplied Iran with 250 spare tires for US-made F-4 fighter jets. New York Times coverage From 1981.
After Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in September 1980, Israel found itself in an unusual position. Israel's sale of 250 retreaded tires, worth about $300,000, was a secret deal intended to strengthen Iran's air force. The F-4 Phantom fighter jets, a key component of Iran's military, had been grounded due to wear and tear. The U.S. embargo on Iran cut off immediate access to parts, so Israel stepped in to fill the gap. According to new york timesthe retreaded tires were produced in Israel, then secretly transported to France and then flown to Iran on a chartered plane.
The Shah of Iran is in talks in St. Louis about purchasing F-4 Phantoms manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company.
Photo credit: Getty
The deal comes at a sensitive time for U.S.-Iranian relations, with 52 U.S. diplomats still being held hostage in Tehran. The Jimmy Carter administration wanted to ensure the release of the hostages and called on Israel to suspend further military agreements with Iran until the hostages were released. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to American pressure and suspended all military deals despite Israel's strategic interest in preventing victory in the Iraq war, according to officials.
Beyond regional power politics, Israel also had more personal concerns about the fate of Jews in Iran. At the time, there were approximately 60,000 Jews living in Iran, and there was growing concern in Israel that Jews would be subject to repression and persecution under the new Israeli government. Maintaining some form of back channel communication with Iran was seen as a way to protect these Jewish communities.
hostility and rivalry
By the 1990s, the era of Israeli-Iranian cooperation had all but disappeared. The geopolitical factors that once brought the two countries together—Arab socialism, Soviet influence, and the threat of Iraq—were gone, leaving little incentive for continued cooperation. Iran is now firmly under the control of a revolutionary government that embraces anti-Israel ideology and supports groups like Hezbollah and Hamas in their conflict with the Jewish state.
By the early 2000s, the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose Holocaust denial and aggressive rhetoric against Israel further escalated tensions and solidified Iran as Israel's most prominent enemy in the region. . As Israel went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas in 2008, Iranian support for these non-state actors (collectively referred to as the “Axis of Resistance”) became a central concern of Israel's strategic calculations. Ta.
2024 and the threat of all-out war
Relations between Iran and Israel currently do not exist. The two countries in the Middle East are currently on the brink of all-out war, as evidenced by Israel's multi-front conflict against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. All three armed groups are part of Iran's “Axis of Resistance.”
