Conditioned by the catastrophe and trauma of the Holocaust, the violent birth of the State of Israel , and the lessons from the revolutionary history of Zionism, Israelis had only one way of seeing Iran ’s nuclear programme—as an existential threat. Israel and Iran opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict when Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday that set off explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Israel said it targeted nuclear and military facilities, killing Iran’s top military and nuclear scientists. In the 1980s Israel sent secret arms shipments worth billions to Iran during its war with Iraq, to counter Saddam Hussein. Israel also became the conduit for American military equipment sent to Iran in during the Iran-Contra affair. Years of simmering tensions between Israel and Iran have broken into direct conflict , as the two arch foes trade missile attacks on an unprecedented scale. Tensions between two Middle Eastern heavyweights have erupted into a full-fledged Israel ‑ Iran war 2025. What’s happening now? In the latest twist, Israel ’s Operation Rising Lion unleashed a devastating wave of airstrikes on Iran ’s military and nuclear infrastructure—including the hardened Natanz enrichment complex—on June 13, 2025. Israel and Iran have been enemies for decades — but this is their most sustained direct fighting ever. Here’s how a shadow war erupted into an overt conflict .
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