After a deadly bombing of an Iranian consulate building in Damascus, which Israel claims is linked to threats against its interests, Iranian officials have publicly warned of revenge, sparking fears of the conflict widening in the Middle East. Late night on Saturday, Iran launched a retaliatory attack with over two hundred missiles and explosive drones targeting Israel.
Although this is not the first of such tensions between the two countries, the attack in Damascus was a dramatic turn in the long-running shadow war between Israel and Iran. Although Israel is yet to publicly acknowledge the attack, US President Joe Biden has vowed 바카라ironclad바카라 support for the country and its바카라 right to 바카라defend itself바카라 바카라 a statement US has also made in the context of the ongoing war on Gaza.
For decades now, both Iran and Israel have engaged in operations against each other in both the physical and virtual worlds. Here is a brief history of the attacks between the two countries.
Origins of conflict
The origins of this conflict between the two countries has roots in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Israeli wars. Initially, Iran had amicable relations with Israel and even recognised it as a sovereign state 바카라 becoming the second Muslim-majority country to do so after Turkey.
However, following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which brought about the Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran cut all diplomatic ties with Israel. Several factors played a role in this: the aggressive posture adopted by the Israeli government against Iran; Iran바카라s support and funding for organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah. The new Iranian leadership was henceforth fueled by anti-Israel sentiments, and found support in Palestinian liberation movements, including the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
What are some points of contention between the two countries?
Nuclear weapons: Benjamin Netanyahu, premier of a state with its own secret nuclear weapons program, has long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, whereas the latter has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. Meanwhile, Tehran believes Israel and the U.S. introduced the Stuxnet computer virus in the early 2000s to target the centrifuges enriching uranium for Iran's nuclear program, according to a report by NPR.
Support for groups like Hamas, Hezbollah: Iran has for long supported militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, which have engaged in armed conflict with Israel, which has in turn exacerbated tensions between the two nations. These network of organisations have been called 바카라resistance axis바카라. The Quds Force, a paramilitary and intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), is Iran바카라s unconventional warfare wing that has supported Tehran바카라s proxies and regional partners with money, weapons and equipment for decades.
The recent Damascus attack killed two generals and five other officers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps바카라 Quds Force. In the history of the Quds Force, it had never lost that many officers in one operation by its adversaries. Even the significant US attack against former Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 did not kill other senior members of the organisation. Mohammad Zahedi, one of the generals killed, was directly responsible for managing relationships with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Syrian government and Shia militias in that country, and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Iran accuses Israel of backing those groups that it designates as 바카라terrorist organisations바카라 including the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a Europe-based organisation.
Iran and Israel바카라s proxy wars
Iran has often used its proxies to strike Israel바카라s interests while the latter has targeted Iran바카라s nuclear scientists and military leaders.
January 2024: After the death of Hamas leader Saleh-al-Arouri in Baghdad (in context of Israel바카라s war on Gaza), Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, stepped up its attacks on Israel. Hezbollah said its drones had hit the Israeli army headquarters in Safed, northern Israel, as part of retaliation for the assassination of Arouri, and in response to killing of Hezbollah commander Wissam Tawil, the most senior Hezbollah officer to die in the fighting, according to a report by Reuters. In retaliation, Israel's military said it killed the southern Lebanon commander of Hezbollah's aerial unit, who it said led the attack but Hezbollah rejected the statement, saying it had "no truth whatsoever".
November 2023: Iran-backed Yemen바카라s Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route and took its 25 crew members hostage. Netanyahu바카라s office condemned the seizure as an 바카라Iranian act of terror.바카라
May 2022: Israel assassinated Revolutionary Guards commander, Col. Sayad Khodayee, who they described as a 'defender of the sanctuary' -- anyone who works on behalf of Iran in Syria or Iraq. Iran then promised to avenge the killing.
November 2020: Israel killed Iran바카라s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who, Western officials believed, played a key role in devising the means to assemble a nuclear warhead in Iran in the past under the guise of civilian uranium enrichment programme.
