New Delhi:

Iran fired 200 missiles, including hypersonic weapons, at Israel on Tuesday as tensions in the Middle East reach a breaking point. Israel has vowed that Iran will ‘pay’ for the attack. But relations between the two countries were not always sour. As unthinkable as it may sound, Israel and Iran had, with the help of the United States, worked together to fight a common enemy.

In the 1960s, both Israel and Iran found a mutual adversary in Iraq. While Israel was engaged in a broader struggle against hostile Arab regimes, Iran, under the Shah, viewed Iraq’s leadership as a direct threat to its security and regional ambitions. This laid the foundation for one of the most secret partnerships of the time, involving the Mossad – the Israeli intelligence service – and SAVAK – the Iranian secret police – both of which played a key role in supporting Kurdish insurgents against the central Iraqi regime . These Kurdish groups, seen as the Achilles heel of Iraq’s Arab nationalist leadership, were crucial in undermining the Iraqi government from within.

Cooperation between Israel and Iran reached new heights with the formation of a trilateral intelligence alliance codenamed Trident, which also included Turkey. Beginning in 1958, Trident watched these three non-Arab powers exchange critical intelligence and conduct joint counterintelligence operations. As the relationship matured, Israel and Iran became even closer, developing close military and intelligence ties that extended well into the Shah’s reign.

The Shah’s ambitions and Israel’s influence

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was driven not only by shared geopolitical interests, but also by a belief in Israel’s influence in Washington. The Shah saw Israel as a potential means of strengthening relations with the United States, especially after the Kennedy administration raised concerns about his authoritarian rule.

The burgeoning Israeli-Iranian relationship became a key feature of Iran’s strategy to align with the West, resulting in the establishment of a permanent Israeli delegation in Tehran by the mid-1960s, functioning as a de facto embassy.

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with US President Jimmy Carter
Photo credit: Getty

However, the relationship was not without complications. The Shah, aware of widespread anti-Israel sentiment in the Arab world, carefully managed the public face of Iran’s relationship with Israel. Although he became more critical of Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, his strategic interests continued to outweigh ideological or diplomatic positions.

Collaboration in the shadows

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran dramatically changed the country’s political landscape, transforming it into an anti-Israeli Islamic Republic. But even after Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, the new regime quietly collaborated with Israel, again driven by common enemies. As the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) continued, both countries recognized the benefit of cooperation against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Israel also saw an opportunity in helping Iran. In particular, she viewed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as a more immediate and dangerous threat to its security, given Baghdad’s ambitions for regional dominance and its pursuit of nuclear capabilities. Iraq’s formidable military, supplied by both the United States and the Soviet Union, posed a risk, and Israel’s shipment of weapons to Iran – especially after Prime Minister Menachem Begin approved the sale of military equipment in 1980 – was a calculated decision to undermine Iraq’s strength. .

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (L) talks to Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat at his home, where ministers discussed events in Iran in 1979.
Photo credit: Getty

These secret arms deals were concluded despite US policy that barred military support to Iran until the release of American hostages held in Tehran. In return for Israeli military assistance, Khomeini’s regime allowed a significant number of Iranian Jews to emigrate to Israel or the United States, a concession that underscored the pragmatic nature of the relationship.

The Iran-Contra Affair

By the mid-1980s, Iran’s need for military support reached a critical point. The war between Iran and Iraq had depleted the country’s resources and the economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. It was against this backdrop that the Iran-Contra affair unfolded – a high-stakes covert operation involving arms sales, facilitated by Israel, with the support of senior officials of the Ronald Reagan administration, to secure the release of American hostages held by the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah. in Lebanon.

Algerian President Houri Boumedienne (center) is flanked by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran (left) and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein (right) in 1975.
Photo credit: Getty

For Israel, these arms deals were lucrative and strategically valuable, further strengthening Iran’s role as a clandestine ally in the war against Iraq. Iran, desperate for weapons and resources, was willing to engage with both Israel and the United States even as it continued to publicly defame Israel.

The Secret Missile Project: Operation Flower

The Israeli-Iranian partnership extended beyond conventional arms deals. One of the most ambitious projects was Operation Flower, a secret billion-dollar initiative launched in 1977 under the Shah’s regime. The project involved the modification of surface-to-surface missiles, potentially equipped with nuclear warheads, for sale to Iran. However, the nuclear aspect of the project was not pursued.

As part of the deal, Iran made a significant down payment in 1978 by sending $260 million worth of oil to Israel, a 1986 New York Times report claimed. Work on the missile program continued until the Islamic Revolution in 1979, after which the Khomeini regime abruptly stopped cooperation.

Spare tires for F-4 fighter jets

Israel covertly supplied Iran with 250 spare tires for American-made F-4 fighter jets in October 1980 while Iran was waging war against Iraq, according to a 1981 New York Times report.

After Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in September 1980, Israel found itself in an unusual position. The Israeli sale of 250 retreaded tires, worth about $300,000, was a secret transaction aimed at strengthening Iran’s air force. The F-4 Phantom jets, a key part of the Iranian military, were grounded due to wear and tear. With no immediate access to parts due to the embargo the US placed on Iran, Israel stepped in to fill the gap. According to the New York Times, retreaded tires were produced in Israel and then secretly shipped to France, where they were flown to Iran on chartered planes.

The Shah of Iran, in St. Louis to discuss the purchase of F-4 Phantom jets built by airline McDonnel Douglas.
Photo credit: Getty

The transaction took place during a delicate period for US-Iranian relations, with 52 US diplomats still being held hostage in Tehran. The Jimmy Carter administration, seeking to secure their release, urged Israel to suspend further military deals with Iran until the hostages were released. According to officials involved, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin acquiesced to American pressure and halted all military transactions, despite Israeli strategic interests in preventing an Iraqi victory in the war.

In addition to regional power politics, Israel had a more personal concern: the fate of the Jewish population in Iran. At the time, there were approximately 60,000 Jews living in Iran, and fears were growing in Israel that they could become targets of repression or persecution under the new regime. Maintaining some form of back-channel communication with Iran was seen as a way to protect these Jewish communities.

Hostility and rivalry

By the 1990s, the era of cooperation between Israel and Iran had all but evaporated. The geopolitical factors that had once united them—Arab socialism, Soviet influence, and the threat of Iraq—had disappeared, leaving little incentive for further cooperation. Iran, now firmly under the control of its revolutionary government, embraced an anti-Israel ideology and supported groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in their conflicts with the Jewish state.

In the early 2000s, the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose Holocaust denial and aggressive rhetoric against Israel further inflamed tensions, cemented Iran as Israel’s most prominent adversary in the region. As Israel waged wars with Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas in 2008, Iranian support for these non-state actors – collectively referred to as the “Axis of the Resistance” – became a central concern in Israel’s strategic calculations.

2024 and the threat of all-out war

Ties between Iran and Israel no longer exist. The two Middle Eastern countries are now on the brink of all-out war, as evidenced by Israel’s multi-frontal conflict against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen. All three of these armed militant groups are part of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’.