In July 2015, the US, Iran, and five other world powers came to an agreement concerning
Iran’s nuclear proliferation. While President Obama has promised that this deal would cut
off Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, Israel’s Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
openly disagrees. In fact, Israel and Iran have had a long and tumultuous relationship
since the late 1970s, which has only progressively gotten worse. So, why do Israel and Iran hate
each other?
Well, it all started in 1947, when the United Nations held a vote to split the Palestinian
region into Israel and Palestine. At the time, Iran was one of 13 countries to reject the
proposal. Once the Israeli state had been established, Iran voted against their admission
into the UN. However, Iran soon became one of the first Muslim-majority states to unofficially
recognize Israel’s sovereignty in 1950. In fact, the two countries ended up sharing
a close relationship due to Iran’s secular leadership from 1925 to 1979. The two countries
had thriving trade, and even combined military forces to develop new technologies.
But everything fell apart in 1979 when the Shah of Iran was overthrown by religious leader,
Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran became an Islamic Republic, ruled by Islamic law. Khomeini quickly
severed ties with Israel, as well as the United States, calling them “little” and “big”
Satan. Still, during the Iran-Iraq war, Israel supplied Iran with military equipment, which
has been considered crucial in Iran’s victory. Yet anti-Israeli rhetoric continued and increased
within Iran. Notably, in 1985, an Egyptian man murdered 7 Israelis on vacation in Egypt.
In response, Iran issued a stamp featuring a picture of the murderer, and named a street
in their capital after him, glorifying him as a hero and a martyr.
Their relationship continued to deteriorate, with further Iranian leaders calling Israel’s
existence illegal and parasitic, and for it to be eliminated. The most significant break-down
came as President Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005. He called for the end of the Israeli
state, and supported the Iranian-born anti-Israeli terrorist organization, Hezbollah. He is also
a known Holocaust denier.
In recent years, a number of Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated by Israeli
intelligence agents in order to stop nuclear development. At the same time, the US and
Israel have stopped a number of assassinations of Israeli and Jewish targets by Iranian agents.
In 2012, several Iranians were arrested after a plot to bomb diplomatic officials was discovered.
Today, tensions have centered on Israel’s fear of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Although
Iran has repeatedly promised to never develop a nuclear missile, they have also repeatedly
been caught attempting to do just that. With Iran having operated as a religious state
since 1979, there is little hope of the two making peace anytime soon.
Iran’s nuclear proliferation is a hot button issue with a storied history behind it. To
see a timeline of Iran’s attempts, check out this video. Or learn why The United States
and Israel are so close, here. Thanks for watching TestTube News, please make sure to
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