June 14, 2025
As Israel launches a series of deadly strikes on Iran—targeting nuclear facilities and killing several top commanders—many in the region are grappling with the rapid escalation of what could become a broader regional conflict. Yet, few recall that just four decades ago, Israel and Iran were not bitter enemies, but strategic partners bound by deep political and military cooperation.
This complex transformation—from trusted allies to geopolitical adversaries—reveals how history and ideology have profoundly reshaped the Middle East.
An Unlikely Alliance: 1948–1979
When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, most Muslim-majority nations rejected its legitimacy. Iran, then under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was one of only two Muslim countries (the other being Turkey) to recognize the new state.
What followed was a period of robust bilateral cooperation, driven by shared strategic interests. Iran, rich in oil and wary of Arab nationalism, saw Israel as a useful counterweight to growing Soviet and pan-Arab influence. Israel, meanwhile, relied on Iran for critical energy supplies and intelligence cooperation in a hostile region.
The relationship extended to the military and intelligence domains. Iran’s feared internal security agency, SAVAK, was trained by Israel’s Mossad, and high-level diplomatic engagement was frequent, if discreet. By the 1970s, Iran housed the third-largest Jewish population in the region and was a vital customer for Israeli arms manufacturers.
Revolution and Rupture: 1979
The turning point came in 1979, with the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The overthrow of the Shah by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the establishment of an Islamic Republic grounded in anti-Western ideology reshaped Tehran’s foreign policy. In his first speech after returning from exile, Khomeini denounced the United States as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan.”
Within months, Iran severed ties with Israel, banned direct flights, and handed over the Israeli embassy in Tehran to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The ideological distance between the two nations widened rapidly, transforming a pragmatic alliance into open hostility.
Secret Deals in a Time of War: 1980–1988
Yet geopolitics has a way of resurrecting unlikely alliances. In September 1980, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launched a full-scale invasion of Iran, triggering a brutal eight-year war. With much of Iran’s military hardware of American origin, the post-revolutionary regime found itself unable to maintain its arsenal.
Despite the public rhetoric, Iran discreetly reached out to Israel for support. According to declassified CIA reports and Israeli investigative journalism, Tel Aviv responded positively—delivering over $100 million in arms to Tehran in the early 1980s.
The covert arms pipeline, enabled through European intermediaries and Israeli shell companies based in New York and London, provided Iran with tank parts, fighter jet components, and even anti-tank missiles.
The most infamous chapter in this hidden alliance was the Iran–Contra Affair, where the United States, with Israeli mediation, sold arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and used the proceeds to fund Nicaraguan rebels. The episode underscored the extent to which ideology was sometimes subordinate to strategy.
From Strategic Asset to Existential Threat
By the early 2000s, Iran’s ambitions had changed. The collapse of Iraq as a regional power shifted the strategic balance. Iran began building a network of regional militias, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, positioning itself as the leader of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and the West.
The final rupture came in 2002, when Iran’s covert nuclear program was exposed. For Israel, the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran—led by a regime that routinely calls for its destruction—became an existential concern.
Since then, the two nations have waged a shadow war across the Middle East: from assassinations of Iranian scientists, cyberattacks on nuclear facilities, and proxy battles in Syria, to Tehran’s missile support for groups targeting Israeli territory.
A Mirror of the Region’s Transformation
The current military escalation—one of the deadliest in recent years—may appear as the inevitable result of a long-simmering conflict. Yet, the deeper history suggests otherwise.
Israel and Iran were once united by strategic realism and mutual benefit. Their current confrontation is not rooted in geography or historic enmity, but in ideological divergence, shifting power dynamics, and a region redefined by revolution and mistrust.
As Israeli jets circle above Tehran and Iranian missiles target Tel Aviv, it’s worth remembering: today’s enemies were once allies—and perhaps, in another political reality, could have remained so.
