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Part 3: Israel and Iran
One of the most contentious conflicts within the Middle East lies between Israel and Iran. While Iran enjoys the backing of a massive nuclear program and Russia, Israel maintains the steady support of the United States and its allies. To truly unpack the complex dynamics of the United States and its involvement in the Middle East, understanding this relationship is crucial.
History of their Relations
As were most states in the Arab world, Iran was opposed to the UN Partition of Palestine in 1947 to form the Jewish state of Israel. Nevertheless, in 1950, Iran became the second Muslim-majority country (following Turkey) to recognize the state of Israel. This was during the height of the Cold War when Iran was hoping to form an alliance with the United States to try and counter Soviet influence. Knowing that Israel would be the perfect proxy for that relationship, Iran normalized relations with the country. While there maintained some level of animosity between the two, they were en route towards joint cooperation on missile development in a project known as “Project Flower”.
However, the 1970s marked the end to peaceful ties between Iran and Israel. Due to the rise of Islamic clerics in the Iranian government, anti-Israeli sentiment grew within the regime. With relations between Egypt and Iran warming and Iraq and Iran temporarily halting tensions, the strategic influence of the Iran-Israeli relationship diminished. When Ayatollah Khomeini finally overthrew the authoritarian secular government of Iran during the Islamic Revolution, his first order was the immediate severing of ties with Israel, even turning over the Israeli embassy to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Despite the “Iran-Contra deal”, which provided Iran with weapons from Israel during the Iran-Iraq war a few years later, Iran began to embark on a political campaign against their former ally.
During the 1990s, tensions between the two parties only grew worse, as Iran backed various Islamic militant groups aiming to topple the Zionist state of Israel. For example, groups like Hamas in the Gaza strip only grew in power after being endorsed by Iran. Within Israel, anti-Iranian rhetoric only grew, as Iran antagonized the regime and posed a greater danger to the Middle East and beyond.
Israel and Iran’s Nuclear Program
Since Iran began developing its nuclear program, Israel has stood with the rest of the international community in firm opposition. But, Israel has never stood with the JCPOA, even citing it as a “very bad deal” and that the international community should take an “uncompromising stance” when it comes to dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. Unfortunately for Israel, they were bound to a more peaceful approach with Iran when the JCPOA was under the swing and the US was a primary enforcer of it. However, when the JCPOA was not being properly enforced, Israel attempted to take matters into its own hands.
First, Israel has assassinated top officials within the Iranian nuclear program. In 2010, Tehran University Professor Masoud Alimohammadi was killed in a bomb attack that analysts have attributed to Israel. Over the years, the killings of notable nuclear scientists based out of Tehran including physics Professor Darioush Rezaeinejad, nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, and notably Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed in November of 2020.
Second, Israel has launched cyberattacks against Iranian nuclear facilities. Prior to the JCPOA, Israel worked with the American National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on malware that can deter Iran’s nuclear arms development. This bug, known as Stuxnet, was believed to have damaged close to 1,000 centrifuges, or 10% of all those installed in 2010 when it was launched in conjunction with the US. However, Iran has been recently facing cyberattacks that have resulted in damages due to fires and other such malfunctions within their nuclear facilities. While Israel certainly won’t own up to it, evidence likely links them to the attacks.
Although the Biden administration is making rejoining the JCPOA a primary foreign policy objective, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a primary voice of opposition towards the idea of the US rejoining the JCPOA. As someone who was in staunch support of the aggressive policies put forth by the Trump Administration in regards to Iran, Netanyahu believes that rejoining the JCPOA would be a step in the wrong direction.
The Abraham Accords and Iran
As a part of a new measure to try and normalize Israel’s status amongst Arab states in the Middle East, the United States brokered a free trade agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This was particularly significant because many Arabian states were hesitant to recognize the Jewish state until the Israel-Palestine conflict had been resolved. When a powerful nation like the UAE normalized relations, this led to a domino effect, with Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco following.
The message propagated to the rest of the Middle East was clear: Arabian relations with Israel were no longer bound to the Palestinian cause because the looming threat of Iran’s Shiite population and their potential dominance was far more important.
What does this mean for Iran? With more nations now standing with Israel, it’s become clear that there is a growing coalition against Iran (and Shiite Muslims by extension). Specifically, while the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam have been competing for dominance in the Middle East (Sunni’s main force being Saudi Arabia and Shia being Iran), it seems that the Jewish State of Israel has allied themselves with the Sunni Muslims.
At the end of the day, politics within the Middle East continue to be governed by this contentious, yet the formative relationship between Israel and Iran. In light of the incoming Biden Administration, many hope to see a shift in geopolitics within the Middle East towards peace and stability once again.
Discussion Questions:
Which actor is best poised to broker peace between Iran and Israel?
With the rise of the Abraham Accords, what steps should Iran take to regain its influence in the region?
How will the US rejoining the JCPOA impact Iran-Israel relations?
How will presumed new ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia impact Iran’s presence in the Middle East?
Sources Used / Further Reading:
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