Looking Back At Iran-Israel Relations Through The Years | From Allies To Rivals

Israel has hit the nuclear centrifuges and military sites in Iran as confirmed by International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday in the wake of escalated conflict between the two West Asian countries that has reportedly resulted in deaths of at least 585 people in Iran, including 239 civilians and injuries to 1,300 people.

The recent conflict began on June 13 when Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites killed top army generals and nuclear scientists leading to retaliatory attacks with fighter jets and warplanes hitting Israel's 'Iron Dome' air defence among other places.

On 6th day of this ongoing conflict, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected United States' calls for surrender with a stern warning, "Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them."

But this rivalry between Iran and Israel with the involvement of the United States is not new in history, it can be said as 'war in the making'.

Timeline Of Iran Israel Relationship

1948

The ties between Iran and Israel starts back in 1948 when West Asia was not open to accept Israel as a new country. But Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was an exception after it became a close ally of the United States during the Cold War. Both Iran and Israel required help from US to stay afloat and the then Prime Minister of Israel David Ben Gurion in his aim to become allies with non-Arab countries became closer to Iran.

According to an NDTV report, the two countries involved in trade deals, arms sales, crude oil and even shared intelligence information.

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1957-1970s

Iran and United States signed a nuclear cooperation deal and 10 years later in 1967, US provided Iran with a nuclear reactor and enriched uranium fuel which led to Iran signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that allowed it a civilian nuclear programme instead of a military one. Later in 1970 Iran ratified the deal which barred it from using the programme from building atomic bomb.

1979

An Islamic revolution in Iran overthrew Pahlavi's rule and shifted its relationship with Israel and United States forever. Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei was established in Iran that advocated for Palestinians, to a point reportedly that they refused to accept Israeli passports and Iranians were banned from visiting 'occupied Palestine'.

As per reports Iran started to call Israel 'enemy of Islam'.

But the two countries still had one remaining area of interest that was Iraq. During Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, Israel reported sold arms to Iran and also helped them financially. But the ties only got worse with time.

Reportedly, Iran's nuclear programme came under international pressure which led to the US cutting all diplomatic ties with Iran and also seizing Iranian assets and banning trade with them.

1990s

The rivalry between Iran and Israel could be observed clearly after the Gulf war ended in 1991 and US became a global power. Israel sided with US and saw Iran and its nuclear programme as a threat.

Some secret operations, proxy conflicts and open threats were recorded over the next few years.

2002- 2009

Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group had revealed Iran바카라™s secret Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in 2002 and a year later, Iran suspended the uranium enrichment after Britain, France and Germany tried to engage Iran in nuclear talks.

In 2006, Iran announced that it will restart uranium enrichment following the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Under President Barack Obama, as per reports, the US and Iran opened a secret backchannel for messages in the sultanate of Oman in 2009.

Also Read | Is the West Hypocritical on Some Nuclear Threats?

2010-2022

In 2010, the US and Israel reportedly created the Stuxnet virus which damaged Iran바카라™s nuclear centrifuges.

Iran announced a comprehensive nuclear agreement with world powers including the US, that limited Tehran바카라™s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions in 2015.

But in 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel has found data that showed Iran 'covering up' its nuclear program before signing the 2015 deal which led to President Donald Trump withdrawing from Iran바카라™s nuclear deal with the world powers.

In the aftermath of the 2015 deal disintegration, a mysterious explosion took place in centrifuge production plant at Iran바카라™s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in 2020. In the same year, top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is killed. Iran blamed these attacks on Israel.

According to Associated Press, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60 per cent which is its highest purity ever and a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

2023 - 2025

Hamas militants entering Israel and killing 1,200 people, taking 250 hostage triggered another big war in West Asia in October 2023. Iran openly backed Palestinians and criticised Israel for their attacks on the Gaza strip.

In 2024 several incidents took place that further put Iran and Israel in polar positions including an Israeli airstrike that demolished Iran바카라™s Consulate in Damascus, Syria and it killed 16 people, including two Iranian generals.

In April, 2024, Iran launched an missile and drone attack on Israel in response to the Israeli airstrike in Damascus. On the other hand, few days later, a suspected Israeli strike hit an air defense system near an airport in Isfahan, Iran.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a suspected Israeli airstrike in July 2024 during his visit to Tehran.

In September 2024 Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a group based in Lebanon and backed by Iran. Later in October, 2024, Iran launched its second direct attack on Israel but most of the missiles were shot down by Tel Aviv.

It was after this when Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time and the air defense systems were hot along with the sites associated with its missile program.

Israel launched several attacks on Iran바카라™s nuclear and military sites on June 13, 2025 as they deployed warplanes and drones killing top army generals and scientists. Further expanding the airstrikes Israel targeted Iran바카라™s energy industry.

For the third day, Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran while some even invaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings. The talks over nuclear programme and unranium enrichment has also paused for now.