relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Israel
Factsheet
Country Iran
Israel
Israel
Country Iran
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Iran–Israel_relations
Iran–Israel relations
1 month ago - The relationship was cordial for most of the Cold War, but worsened following the Iranian Revolution and has been openly hostile since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Iran's current government does not recognize Israel's legitimacy as a state and has called for its destruction; it views Palestine ...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/geopolitics › why does iran hate israel and support hamas/hezbollah?
r/geopolitics on Reddit: Why Does Iran Hate Israel and Support Hamas/Hezbollah?
October 1, 2024 -
That’s something I find difficult to understand, as there are no territorial disputes between these two countries.
Hamas is a Sunni group, and Iran is far less theocratic than Saudi Arabia, which, notably, is an ally of Israel.
Could anyone give me an unbiased explanation of it?
Top answer 1 of 8
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Israel and US supported the Shah of iran which tortured many of the people which are now in power. Israel is seen as America's thorn in the middle east. Iran wants to take its place as a regional power and must oust american presence, be it in iraq or israel. For years, the Sunni nations have tried to defeat Israel, Iran wants to take the credit of success, thereby proving the Shia are better than the Sunni. Irans strategy, therefore, is to prompt up proxies and gain influence via force of arms (militias in Iraq, civil war in Yemen, Civil war in Syria, lebanon) in the hope that all of these could pressure Israel enough until it cracks.
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In the specific case of Oct 7th and everything that has unfolded since, Iran was worried about a normalization of relations between SA and Israel. There is a project call the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and part of that was SA and Israel working towards normalizing relations. But for political reasons, SA can't normalize with Israel if they are in open conflict with the Palestinians, so Iran had Hamas attack to prevent this from happening. In the wider sense, there will always be a good amount of people in the Middle East that view Israel as the bad guy, and Iran's opposition to Israel appeals to that crowd.
Videos
Stimson Center
stimson.org › pivotal places › middle east & north africa › what drives israel-iran hostility? how might it be resolved?
What Drives Israel-Iran Hostility? How Might it be Resolved? • Stimson Center
December 15, 2023 - Iran-Israel relations have been in a largely downward spiral since 1979, when Iran’s new Islamist regime embraced an ideology that combined radical Third-Worldism, anti-Imperialism, Arab leftist radicalism, and some Muslim antisemitism.
Why the hostility against Israel after the Iranian revolution?
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February 21, 2025Why Does Iran Hate Israel and Support Hamas/Hezbollah?
In the specific case of Oct 7th and everything that has unfolded since, Iran was worried about a normalization of relations between SA and Israel. There is a project call the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and part of that was SA and Israel working towards normalizing relations. But for political reasons, SA can't normalize with Israel if they are in open conflict with the Palestinians, so Iran had Hamas attack to prevent this from happening. In the wider sense, there will always be a good amount of people in the Middle East that view Israel as the bad guy, and Iran's opposition to Israel appeals to that crowd. More on reddit.com
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October 1, 2024Why do the Ayatollahs and the current Iranian regime hate israel so much?
The ideology that brought Islamic Republic to power is built on hating waste and Israel and fighting for all oppressed Muslims around the word. They will absolutely never turn from this More on reddit.com
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August 6, 2024Why does Iran hate Israel so much?
China doesn’t challenge irans influence in the Middle East Israel does Simple as More on reddit.com
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February 25, 2022DW
dw.com › en › iran-israel-attacks-hezbollah-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-islamic-revolution › a-68780605
Why are Iran and Israel sworn enemies?
June 13, 2025 - Khomeini directed fierce criticism at Israel for its occupation of Palestinian territories. Gradually, Iran adopted an increasingly harsh rhetoric toward Israel with the aim of winning the favor of regional Arab states, or their citizens at ...
Middle East Journal
mideastjournal.org › post › why-does-iran-hate-israel
Why Does The Iran Regime Hate Israel?
November 20, 2024 - Khamenei doesn't want Western ideas to to reach Iran and to ensure it doesn't happen, one way is to prevent Iran from having diplomatic relations with the US by supporting anti-Israel policies.
Unpacked for Educators
unpacked.education › unpacked for educators › explore › israeli history › middle east
How did we get here? The roots of the Iran-Israel Conflict • Unpacked for Educators
July 14, 2025 - Historically, Israel's wars were fought against its direct neighbors, and Iran is on the other side of the Arabian peninsula. And Palestinians are Arabs,
Quora
quora.com › Why-does-Iran-hate-Israel-so-much-more-than-other-Muslim-nations
Why does Iran hate Israel so much more than other Muslim nations? - Quora
Answer (1 of 17): Israel is officially a Jewish state, not a Muslim nation. The Iranian government under the Shah recognized the state of Israel and maintained a relatively peaceful stance toward most other states in the region. The hardline fundamentalist leaders of the Iranian sect of Islam opp...
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
Why Iran Hates Israel: The Truth They Don’t Want You to Know - YouTube
Iran's hatred for Israel didn’t always exist—it began after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. But why did their relationship shift from allies to enemies? And wha...
Published August 21, 2024
NPR
npr.org › 2024 › 04 › 12 › 1244281886 › iran-israel-relations-enemies-gaza-war
How Iran and Israel became enemies : NPR
April 12, 2024 - Iran blames Israel for a strike on its Syria consulate, and has vowed to retaliate. Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution transformed previously cordial relations between Iran and Israel to fierce hostility.
Quora
quora.com › Why-does-Iran-go-crazy-against-Israel-while-most-of-other-Islamic-countries-stay-in-peace-with-Israel
Why does Iran go crazy against Israel while most of other Islamic countries stay in peace with Israel? - Quora
Answer (1 of 10): the answer is the mad monk called the ayatollah. he is the supreme Islam leader in Iran and controls the government but the worst part is —he has a hatred of the JEWS and is a strong supporter of Hamas and other terrorists organisations in the middle east It is on his insisten...
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
The One Reason Iran Can’t Let Israel Exist | Explained - YouTube
For decades, Iran and Israel were allies. Israelis partied in Tehran. Now, Iran calls Israel “Little Satan” and plots its destruction.But the story of Iran’s...
Published June 20, 2025
Substack
danielgordis.substack.com › p › why-does-iran-really-hate-israel-9f8
Why does Iran Really Hate Israel? The reason is probably not what you think. Colonel Dr. Eran Lerman explains [excerpt]
June 17, 2025 - The answer is far from obvious. After all, we do not have a border dispute. We’re not fighting over resources. The Iranians aren’t Arabs, they speak Farsi and not Arabic—so in many ways, they’re very different from Israel’s other mortal enemies.
FDD
fdd.org › home › iran › the real reason iran hates israel
The Real Reason Iran Hates Israel
November 27, 2023 - But this ignores a fundamental motivation of Iran’s theocracy: anti-Semitism. At least three generations of radical Iranian clerics have viewed Israel as illegitimate, usurping sacred Islamic lands in the name of a pernicious ideology advanced by history’s most devilish and stubborn people.
Quora
quora.com › Why-does-Iran-have-so-much-animosity-toward-Israel
Why does Iran have so much animosity toward Israel? - Quora
Answer (1 of 33): Dictatorships are unnatural. People dislike being ordered around, dislike not having the freedom to do what they want, dislike when somebody has more rights and privileges than them. Because of that, open and blatant dictatorships quickly cause anger and resentment of the publi...
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Iran–Israel_proxy_conflict
Iran–Israel proxy conflict
2 days ago - Israel views Iran as an existential threat on account of Tehran's rhetoric, its support for proxy forces in the region, and its arming and financing of Palestinian groups such as Hamas.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/askhistorians › why the hostility against israel after the iranian revolution?
r/AskHistorians on Reddit: Why the hostility against Israel after the Iranian revolution?
February 21, 2025 -
When reading about the history behind the current conflict between Iran and Israel, I was surprised to learn that direct hostilities between them only seems to be traced back to the 1979 revolution. I understand that revolutionary Iran not holding favourable opinion to Israel due to Muslim solidarity with Palestinians and Israel's association with the west and the old monarchy, but why was that enough for the Islamist Iran to make it a national mission to destroy Israel despite plenty of geopolitical reasons not to (common enemies in Iraq, geography distance complicating hostile actions)?
Top answer 1 of 6
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Interesting question. This seems to be the best answer on the board, I can't credit the original author because he's deleted his account. https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2ojxcl/why_did_israel_support_iran_in_the_iraniraq_war/cmnx9ps/
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> but why was that enough for the Islamist Iran to make it a national mission to destroy Israel Not exactly. Iran's national mission, in particular the IRGC's national mission was to become and maintain their position as a regional superpower. Even if Iran wanted to, it would not be able to build friendlier ties with the US without giving up their power for a multitude of different factors. Its main focus since then has been to survive without losing power internally. The IRGC established its revolution as an anti-West and consequently anti-Israel Shia revolution. The Israeli and American allyship prior to 1979 with Iran was because of the US-installed brutal regime of the Shah in the first place. There was plenty of appetite amongst most Iranians and many arabs against American influence. By it's very nature of inception- Iran was bound to be isolated from all fronts. Additionally, Iran is very diverse, and so to maintain a stable rule within Iran despite being a theocratic party, they had to at least maintain the popular anti west and anti Israel sentiment to prevent their rule from falling apart internally, at least initially. Iran post-revolution faced multiple enemies almost immediately- The pan arab nations largely excluded and antagonized Iran. For the Pan arab secularists, a Shia revolution in a major regional power like Iran was a massive threat. Especially for Iraq, as it has a majority Shia population that was increasingly disgruntled by Saddam. On the other hand, Gulf states like Saudi Arabia were also deeply allied with the US, and Iran's attempt at Islamic revolutions threatened the Gulf Monarchs. There was an attempt at a militant takeover that had brutally taken control of the holy mosque in Mecca, holding all the pilgrims hostage in Saudi Arabia in the same year, inspired by Iran's revolution in 1978. So these fears weren't unfounded. Lastly, on the northern front, Afghanistan's communist party and the USSR were busy trying to shut down Islamist militant rebellion factions that were both Sunni and Shia, and also saw Iran as a threat to their own rule. Meanwhile, Iran's rising power and revolution also inspired other resistance groups like the Hezbollah to form in the aftermath of massacres like the Sabra and Shatilla massacre led by the IDF and Christian militias in Lebanon and actually did achieve quite a bit politically and militarily within Lebanon by allying with Iran. It was largely IRGC-inspired rebel groups that became Iran's allies. However, what IRGC leaders say and what they actually do are two different things. They initially called communism blasphemous and denounced the USSR, but still signed weapons contracts later in the 80s. They claimed to vehemently reject Israel but did secretly work with Israel during the Iraq-Iran war. Ultimately, Iran being antagonized by the US also means Iran would be antagonized by Israel. US-Israel ties are much deeper than any other ties the US has in the region. And the US would always oppose Iran as the IRGC was fundamentally a revolution against their chosen dictator and was also a threat to all other US allies. Once Iraq fell, Israel joined the US to put their sights on Iran together. An already weakened Iran stopped engaging in direct hot conflict for the most part and shifted to proxy wars. But it still continues growing significantly militarily through China and Russia, and its nuclear proliferation and proximity to Gulf oil refineries have served as effective deterrents. I will avoid going into the details of events in recent years, but it has tried to establish better relationships with the West in recent decades by signing Obama's denuclearization deal in hopes of lifting sanctions. Iran denuclearized and agreed to regular inspections, only for Trump to walk back on the deal and enforce even more sanctions. Biden maintained the Trump era policy and implemented more sanctions. Most of what Iran has done since is to avoid direct conflict while still posturing about an axis of resistance to use as deterrence to keep its unpopular rule alive and legitimate. If it truly wanted to destroy Israel at all costs- it would have already taken much more drastic action long back on several different occasions and would have dropped all notion of strict theological rule internally for the sake of increasing national security. Edit- I understand I have mentioned too many regions all at once and a lot more can be said about almost every single line in this comment. But A LOT was happening in 1978-1985, in the Middle East, and they weren't as disconnected as they might seem. But they all play a big role in contextualizing how and why Iran is the way it is today.
Al Jazeera
aljazeera.com › news › israel-palestine conflict
Iran and Israel: From allies to archenemies, how did they get here? | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
The Palestinian issue has been at the centre of the hostilities for decades, and Tehran has been warning Israel and its closest ally, the United States, that the war with Hamas could spread as Israel has escalated attacks beyond Gaza. Israel has bombed positions in Lebanon and Syria, two countries where Tehran wields considerable influence. On July 31, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in an explosion that the Palestinian group and Iran blamed on Israel.
Published October 3, 2024
AJC
ajc.org › news › iranian-regime-vs-israel-war-explained-what-you-should-know
Iranian Regime vs. Israel War Explained: What You Should Know | AJC
June 24, 2025 - Israel’s successful surprise attack prompted the Iranian regime to repeatedly attack Israeli civilians with long-range ballistic missiles and waves of explosive drones. The regime has also spread misinformation to steer the narrative and stir sympathy for the Islamic Republic.
Northeastern Global News
news.northeastern.edu › home › how do israelis and iranians feel about the israel-iran war?
How do Israelis and Iranians feel about the Israel-Iran war?
June 17, 2025 - Although there is broad support for diplomacy and dialogue on the ground, Israel’s attacks have sparked outrage in Iran. “The feeling on the ground is one of helplessness and heartbreak,” Dabbagh says. “Yes, many Iranians hold their own government responsible for decades of corruption, repression and international isolation. But that doesn’t mean they accept or excuse Israel’s aggression — apart from those who openly supported the strikes.”
Wilson Center
wilsoncenter.org › event › iran-and-israel-couple-odds
Iran and Israel: A Couple at Odds | Wilson Center
One major area in which Iran's policy remained excessively uncompromising was its inherent hostility to Israel. In the view of the Islamic regime, Israel remained the enemy of Iran and Islam, and a threat to mankind. Yet, even in this realm, some initial signs of an "alternative approach" could be discerned in the 1990s, reflecting a more nuance attitude even on this basic dogmatic conviction.