Israel’s massive strike on Iran on Friday morning came after decades of mutual hostility and a long-running shadow war of covert strikes and sabotage.
Israel’s massive strike on Iran on Friday morning came after decades of mutual hostility and a long-running shadow war of covert strikes and sabotage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long identified Iran as its greatest threat, citing the country’s nuclear program, its hostile rhetoric and support for anti-Israel militant groups across the region. Iran has championed the Palestinian cause and portrayed Israel as a malicious Western encroachment on the Middle East.
The latest escalation was set in motion by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked a crushing Israeli response and eventually drew in Iran’s other allies, who were in turn crippled by successive waves of Israeli strikes, leaving Iran largely alone in facing Friday’s onslaught.
Here’s a closer look:Why are Israel and Iran enemies?
Over the past two decades, Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons and is believed to have carried out numerous covert attacks on its nuclear program, including cyberattacks and the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists — while rarely acknowledging such operations.
Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but the U.N. atomic watchdog agency has warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chooses to.
The International Atomic Energy Agency and Western nations assess Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.
