By Today, whenever we hear the names of Iran and Israel together, only one picture emerges in our mind – tension, war and threats. Do you know that these two countries were once close friends?
There is a famous quote in English, ‘There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.’ This quote fits very well between Israel and Iran, because Israel and Iran, who were each other’s best friends at one time, have become each other’s sworn enemies today. These two countries, who were looking to hit each other with the most powerful missile, used to hug each other. In such a situation, a question arises in everyone’s mind that where did the enmity between the two start? Let us tell you in detail that how did these countries, who once cooperated with each other in diplomacy and intelligence matters, become each other’s biggest enemies?
When were both friends?
The stories of friendship between the two countries are from the royal era. When Israel declared itself a Jewish nation in 1948, Iran was one of those Muslim countries which silently recognized it. The diplomatic and military relations between the then ruler of Iran, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the Israeli government were strong. Both the countries were considered close to America and the relations between the two were very strong. Iran used to supply oil to Israel, in return Iran was given intelligence training and technical help from Israel. This friendship lasted as long as the Shah’s power remained in Iran. After the Islamic Revolution, the regime in Iran changed and then the two friends became enemies.
Iranian Revolution and Israel
With the Iranian Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini ended the power of the Shah. Khomeini established a radical Islamic regime which declared Israel as Satan and the enemy of Islam. Iran stopped accepting Israeli passports. All relations with Israel were broken. The Israeli embassy was closed and in its place an office was given to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In this way, this relationship changed from friendship to enmity, after which Israel started considering Iran as the biggest threat in the Middle East. In this way, the two friendly countries who once made missiles together are today engaged in completely destroying each other by firing missiles at each other.