Iran–Israel relations

<a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a> and <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, and modern relations are hostile. The relationship was cordial for most of the <a href="/facts/Cold_War/spJdJQ3q">Cold War</a>, but worsened following the <a href="/facts/Iranian_Revolution/frTYhJ0F">Iranian Revolution</a> and has been openly hostile since the end of the <a href="/facts/Gulf_War/6LdLnGdo">Gulf War</a> in 1991. <a href="/facts/Government_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran/3a2xqGM0">Iran's current government</a> does not recognize <a href="/facts/Legitimacy_of_the_State_of_Israel/gaCP3GLe">Israel's legitimacy as a state</a> and has called for its destruction; it views <a href="/facts/Palestine/XYeHy1af">Palestine</a> as the sole legitimate government of the <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">historic Palestinian territories</a>. Israel considers Iran a threat to the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a>'s stability and has targeted Iranian assets in assassinations and airstrikes. In 2025, the hostility escalated to <a href="/facts/Iran%25E2%2580%2593Israel_War/cqFcawYL">an armed conflict</a>.
In 1947, Iran was among 13 countries that voted against the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine/uUhEPqgl">United Nations Partition Plan</a> for the <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">British Mandate of Palestine</a>. Two years later, Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a>. However, Iran was the second <a href="/facts/Muslims/W2ukq4pg">Muslim</a>-majority country to <a href="/facts/International_recognition_of_Israel/6V9uClU9">recognize Israel as a sovereign state</a> after <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a>. After the <a href="/facts/1953_Iranian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/6poAfCcE">1953 coup d'état</a>, which reinstalled the pro-<a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western</a> leader <a href="/facts/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi/r2bcadLc">Mohammad Reza Pahlavi</a> as the <a href="/facts/Shah_of_Iran/NyYXHApF">shah of Iran</a>, relations between the two countries significantly improved. After the Iranian revolution—in which Pahlavi was ousted and Iran's secular monarchy was replaced by an anti-Western <a href="/facts/Islamic_republic/hE0SWdyj">Islamic republic</a>—Iran severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, although <a href="/facts/Israeli_support_for_Iran_during_the_Iran%25E2%2580%2593Iraq_war/6nRrnlyT">relations continued covertly</a> during the <a href="/facts/Iran%25E2%2580%2593Iraq_War/DqD7W8vd">Iran–Iraq War</a> (1980–1988).
Since 1985, Iran and Israel have been engaged in <a href="/facts/Iran%25E2%2580%2593Israel_proxy_conflict/PqdBLb8n">a proxy conflict</a> that has greatly affected the geopolitics of the Middle East. The turn from <a href="/facts/Cold_peace/P9yJ3epP">cold peace</a> to open hostility began in the early 1990s, shortly after the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">collapse of the Soviet Union</a> and the defeat of <a href="/facts/Ba%2527athist_Iraq/lbHnSQBz">Iraq</a> in the Gulf War. Israeli prime minister <a href="/facts/Yitzhak_Rabin/Wvd6myha">Yitzhak Rabin</a>'s government adopted a more aggressive posture on Iran, and Iranian president <a href="/facts/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad/fxJWaqE6">Mahmoud Ahmadinejad</a> made <a href="/facts/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel/CFeJLAlS">inflammatory statements against Israel</a>. Other factors contributing to the escalation of tensions include the <a href="/facts/Iranian_nuclear_program/NFCJJy84">Iranian nuclear program</a>, Iran's funding of <a href="/facts/Islamism/4u3G2nEf">Islamist</a> groups such as <a href="/facts/Hezbollah/HRhTo2rI">Hezbollah</a>, <a href="/facts/Islamic_Jihad_Movement_in_Palestine/M97thxoP">Palestinian Islamic Jihad</a>, <a href="/facts/Hamas/VjIkApsc">Hamas</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Houthis/Cvhyfktz">Houthis</a>, and Iran's involvement in attacks such as the <a href="/facts/1992_Buenos_Aires_Israeli_embassy_bombing/KqA9QYVa">1992 Buenos Aires Israeli embassy bombing</a> and the <a href="/facts/AMIA_bombing/VKwTEkuB">1994 AMIA bombing</a>, as well as Israeli <a href="/facts/Views_on_military_action_against_Iran/RXlVtrqf">threats of military action</a>.
Iranian and Israeli organizations have been involved in direct military confrontations, such as in the <a href="/facts/2006_Lebanon_War/fBLLu3GN">2006 Lebanon War</a>. Iran and Israel have provided support for opposing factions in the <a href="/facts/Syrian_civil_war/UD2gymjC">Syrian</a> and <a href="/facts/Yemeni_civil_war_(2014%25E2%2580%2593present)/QBPCQJQX">Yemeni civil wars</a> and conducted <a href="/facts/Cyberattack/6PSQzq7y">cyberattacks</a> and sabotage against each other's infrastructure, including attacks on nuclear facilities and oil tankers. Iran's <a href="/facts/Iran%25E2%2580%2593Saudi_Arabia_proxy_conflict/EGsex9gn">proxy conflict with Saudi Arabia</a> has led to an informal <a href="/facts/Arab%25E2%2580%2593Israeli_alliance/ReYpj6De">alliance between Israel and Arab states</a>. In 2024, amid <a href="/facts/Middle_Eastern_crisis_(2023%25E2%2580%2593present)/58SvgMew">increasing regional tensions</a> stemming from the <a href="/facts/Gaza_war/dmUoIpBw">Gaza war</a>, Iran–Israel tensions escalated to <a href="/facts/2024_Iran%25E2%2580%2593Israel_conflict/lcQD6xTa">a period of direct conflict</a>; both carried out missile strikes on the other and Israel assassinated targets in Iran and Syria. In 2025, Israel carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets a day after the <a href="/facts/International_Atomic_Energy_Agency/o84JrwQ7">International Atomic Energy Agency</a> declared that Iran had violated its obligations regarding nuclear proliferation, sparking <a href="/facts/Iran%25E2%2580%2593Israel_war/cqFcawYL">a war between the countries</a>.

Iran–Israel relations open-in-new

Iran–Israel relations