"How Iran and Israel became archenemies
April 12, 2024
"While Iran was ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty for more than a half-century, Iranian-Israeli bilateral relations were far from hostile. Iran was one of the first Muslim countries to recognize the new state of Israel.
Palestinians saw that recognition as a tacit international acceptance of what they call the "Nakba," or catastrophe - the forced dispossession and displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.
For its part, Israel was quick to establish ties with non-Arab states, including military and security cooperation with Iran.
Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, though, sent relations between the two nations into a tailspin. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted, and the new supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, pursued a policy of standing up to "arrogant" world powers.
During his regime, the United States became known in Iran as the "Great Satan," and Israel as the "Little Satan."
Even so, limited cooperation between Israel and Iran continued into the 1980s.
But later a hostile rivalry emerged as Iran built up and funded proxy militias and other groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
A shadow war between Iran and Israel grew over the years."
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