US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal has once again brought to the surface the intense animosity between Iran and Israel. This time the rivalry has reached a very dangerous point, since it has been manifested with direct military clashes between Israel and Iran on Syrian territory.
On May 11, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked Iranian positions in Syria in retaliation for an Iranian rocket attack on Israeli troops in the occupied Golan Heights. Many analysts warn that this series of events may lead to a direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.
Many people wonder why there is so much hatred between the two Middle Eastern states and what are the roots of the conflict.
The feud between Iran and Israel goes some decades back to 1979, when the so-called Islamic Revolution occurred. The revolution brought to power a hardcore theocratic regime, a change that profoundly transformed the Middle Eastern balance of power. Let’s take things from the beginning.
In 1953, a US-British coup overthrew the Iranian prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, whose actions were regarded as hostile to Anglo-American strategic and economic interests in the region. The Western powers installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who remained in power until 1979, when he was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution.
US-American relations during the Shah’s period
The Shah’s rise to power marked a tremendous improvement in the relations between the West and Iran. Iran joined the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and received extensive US economic and military aid.
US-Iranian relations blossomed during Richard Nixon’s presidency. More specifically, the so-called Nixon Doctrine (1969) provided that the US would rely on local powers for the stability of the Middle East, while the superpower would provide nuclear deterrence if requested.
Iran and Israel maintained close bilateral relations based on the assumption that they were two non-Arab states in hostile Arab surroundings. It is worth mentioning that Iran was the second Muslim country to recognize Israel, after Turkey
Iran and Israel were at the forefront of containing Soviet influence in the region. The two countries maintained close bilateral relations based on the assumption that they were two non-Arab states in hostile Arab surroundings. It is worth mentioning that Iran was the second Muslim country to recognize Israel, after Turkey.
The US meddled in the internal affairs of Iran and its Central Intelligence Agency trained SAVAK, the secret police under the Shah. However, the more the US interfered in the internal affairs of Iran, the more Iranian public opinion objected.
The legal right of extraterritoriality – granted to US troops from 1964 – was regarded by many Iranians as a violation of the Iranian sovereignty. Gradually, the Shah was identified by many of his compatriots as an American stooge and a client of American imperialism.
His human-rights record was very poor. He banned political parties and ordered many economic cuts to modernize Iran’s army, provoking public dissent among the poor. Iranians started to react against his totalitarianism, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini organized an opposition movement among the clergy that influenced many Iranian citizens.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution
In late 1978, general unrest sparked in Iran mainly because US president Jimmy Carter invited the Shah in Washington. Violent clashes that erupted between the police and anti-Shah demonstrators left six dead and many wounded.
In 1979 the Shah was forced to leave Iran, while Khomeini returned from the exile. This event culminated in the end of the Shah’s reign and ushered in a new period for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Middle East.
The new regime was a hardcore theocratic system and deeply anti-Western. The balance of power in the Middle East was deeply transformed. The clergy and the political leadership in Tehran considered the US the “Great Satan” and Israel the “Little Satan.”
From now on Tehran became the champion defender of Palestinian rights and allied itself with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In fact, Tehran supported the creation of Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the US. This triangle became the axis of resistance against Israel. That “Israel should be wiped off the map” was from now on the main rhetoric of the religious establishment and the politicians in Tehran.
The Iran hostage crisis
US-Iranian relations were deeply strained when Iranian militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran and seized dozens of American hostages in November 1979. Khomeini demanded that Carter turn over the Shah in exchange for the American hostages.
When diplomatic efforts failed, US decided to intervene with its air force in order to save the hostages. However, the rescue mission resulted in one of the worse fiascos since World War II. Two of the helicopters malfunctioned en route, while a third crashed into a transport aircraft, killing eight American soldiers.
The fiasco cost Carter’s re-election to the US presidency. In the end, after Ronald Reagan was elected president, the hostages were freed in exchange for unfreezing of Iranian financial assets.
Alignments and realignments in the Middle East
The whole story reminds as about the famous maxim that “there are no friends and enemies in international relations, only interests.” Or putting it differently, ”the friend of yesterday is the enemy of today, and the enemy of today is the friend of tomorrow.”
In conclusion, what remains to be seen is whether the Europeans will manage to save the deal with Iran or if Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal will bring US-Iranian relations to the same turbulent point that existed during the hostage crisis, and afterward plunge the international community and the Middle East into a new phase of intense strategic instability, with unpredictable consequences for world peace.
COMPLETE IGNORANCE BY THE WRITER ,TRUMP IS AN ISRAELI ZIONIST AGENT. THIS IS BEING PERPATRATED BY THE ZIONIST ENTITY TO FURTHER THE ZIONIST AGENDA OF ERETZ YISROEL,""GREATER ISRAEL"" !! NO OTHER REASON .IRAN HAS NO NUKE AS SADDAM/IRAQ HAD NONE. BY THAT DID NOT STOP THE US, FROM DOING ISRAELS BIDDING ,DESTROYING IRAQ. WAR IS EMONENT ON IRAN!!!
Falcon Dave Wow! Its again the WOLF complaining about injustice. You cannot create a hypothetical scenario and then use it to justify your fascist ideology and actions!! Who says muslims are a threat to hindus in India? LMAO.
Darn those world-powerful Jews! There are 13 million of them, (maybe), and they have 350 million Americans, and 1.2 Billion Muslims in their crosshairs. Not a fair contest at all.
Why would one’s personal or national interest prevail over the other? The Almighty (God or Allah) even from the very beginning established the confines of what one can do. And when one finds his interest in conflict with the other, both protagonists should be prepared to accept what is right, and none of them is truly right. They should consult the Allknowing Almighty and submit to His Will – THE RIGHT SOLUTION where no one feels a victor, and the other vanguished, only the Almighty’s Will prevail. There will be no war, and all will be in peace – if we only submit to the Will of the Almighty. Amen.
I think the issue of America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal contributed little or nothing to the Iran – Israel hostility, as the writer pointed out, since the revolution, the enmity has been there.
Bill Bilek: depends on how united and purpose full one are compared to the other ????
Rather amateurish article by the author. Gets very basic historical facts wrong.
I am waiting and hope that in the future the US may test China of its strength how powerful their military because for me I want only one superpower all over the world. I dont like Chinese to be on top militarily because they are uneducated and arrogantI
Because Aytollah Khomeini was in exile in France.
Almighty is the same for all but human ambitions have rendered him in "yours and mine syndrome".