Iran and Israel open war after decades of shadow war

Israel said its strikes against Iran on Saturday were in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on Israel on October 1, the latest exchange in an escalating conflict between the archrivals.

This was the latest in a broader escalation since the war in Gaza began last year, but Israeli-Iranian enmity stretches back decades in a history of clandestine wars and attacks via land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Below is a timeline of key events:

1979 – Iran’s pro-Western leader Mohammed Reza Shah, who considered Israel an ally, is swept from power in an Islamic revolution that installs a new Shia theocratic regime, making opposition to Israel an ideological necessity.

1982 – As Israel invades Lebanon, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards there team up with fellow Shia Muslims to establish Hezbollah. Israel will ultimately view the paramilitary group as the most dangerous adversary on its borders.

1983 – Iran-backed Hezbollah uses suicide bombings to drive Western and Israeli forces out of Lebanon. In November, a car packed with explosives drives into the headquarters of the Israeli army in Lebanon. Israel later withdraws from much of Lebanon.

1992-1994 – Argentina and Israel accuse Iran and Hezbollah of orchestrating suicide bombings on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and a Jewish center in the city in 1994, killing dozens of people.

Iran and Hezbollah deny responsibility.

2002 – A revelation that Iran has a secret program to enrich uranium raises concerns that the country is trying to build an atomic bomb in violation of its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations, which the country denies. Israel calls for tough action against the Islamic Republic.

2006 – Israel battles Hezbollah in a month-long war in Lebanon but is unable to crush the heavily armed group, and the conflict ends in an effective stalemate.

2009 – In a speech, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls Israel “a dangerous and deadly cancer.”

2010 – Stuxnet, a malicious computer virus widely believed to have been developed by the US and Israel, is used to attack a uranium enrichment facility at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site. It is the first publicly known cyber attack on industrial machines.

2012 – Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan is killed by a bomb placed on his car by a motorcyclist in Tehran. A city official blames Israel for the attack.

2018 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes President Donald Trump’s US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers, after years of lobbying against the agreement, calling Trump’s decision “a historic move”.

In May, Israel said it struck Iranian military infrastructure in Syria – where Tehran has backed President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war – after Iranian forces there fired missiles into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

2020 – Israel welcomes the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the overseas branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in a US drone strike in Baghdad. Iran retaliates with rocket attacks on Iraqi bases housing US troops. About 100 American soldiers are injured.

2021 – Iran blames Israel for the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a secret Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons capabilities. Tehran has long denied such an ambition.

2022 – US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid sign a joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weapons in a show of unity among allies long divided over diplomacy with Tehran.

The venture, part of a “Jerusalem Declaration” that marks Biden’s first visit to Israel as president, comes a day after he told a local TV station that he is open to a “last resort” use of force against Iran — a clear step towards accommodating Israelis. calls for a “credible military threat” from world powers.

April 2024 – A suspected Israeli airstrike on the grounds of the Iranian embassy in Damascus kills seven Revolutionary Guard officers, including two senior commanders. Israel neither confirms nor denies responsibility.

Iran responds with a barrage of drones and missiles in an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli territory on April 13. This prompted Israel to launch an attack on Iranian territory on April 19, sources familiar with the matter said.

October 1, 2024 – Iran fires more than 180 rockets at Israel in what it calls revenge for the September 27 killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallahon in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital on July 31.

October 26, 2024 – Israel attacks military sites in Iran, saying it was retaliating for Tehran’s attacks earlier this month. Iranian media reports explosions for several hours in Tehran and at nearby military bases. Iran reports “limited damage” in some locations.