[An illustration of a war. Photo credit to Pixabay]

Since the April 1st air strike by Israel, the conflict between Israel and Iran has been escalating.

The Israeli air strike successfully destroyed the Iranian consulate building located in Syria.

The airstrike killed 13 people, including Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a former prime minister of Iran and a senior military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Such an attack exhibits Israel’s intent to diminish Iran’s military presence in Syria.

Israel’s direct aggression has heightened tensions between the two Middle Eastern nations.

On April 13th, Iran retaliated by launching more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Brigadier General Ali Belali expressed, “NATO, The United States, and Arab countries of the region want to create barriers for our drones, missiles and cruise missiles, but they have failed. The world was not able to stop us.”

However, most of the projectiles were neutralized and obstructed by Israel’s allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, Jordan, and France.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported intercepting more than “99% of the threats.”

This recent attack echoes Iran’s surprise drone attack on Saudi oil installations in 2019, where Iran managed to disrupt 5% of the world’s oil supply with only around 20 to 30 drones and missiles.

Given the scale of the recent attack, it is evident that Iran intended to inflict serious damage on Israel.

Analysts predict that the failure of Iran’s attack will critically damage the credibility of Iran’s military capabilities.

Soon after, on April 19th, Israel targeted Iran’s air-defense system in Isfahan.

Although Israel has not officially confirmed this action, reports indicate that a missile struck Iran’s military base.

This attack has brought up concerns that Iran’s nuclear sites may be the next target, which will pose a threat of tremendous damage.

Surprisingly, Israel and Iran maintained a friendly relationship until the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

From 1941 to 1979, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled the Imperial State of Iran, during which Iran was one of the first nations to recognize Israel as a sovereign state.

The two nations regularly engaged in trade with each other, with Iran being the main supplier of oil for Israel.

Iran also supported Israel during its conflicts with other Arab nations.

However, the bond between the two nations broke when Iranian left-wing guerrillas battled with Israel to gain experience to organize a resistance movement against the Shah.

After the Shah of Iran was executed, Ayatollah Khomeini became the first leader of the Islamic Republic and declared economic activities with Israel or any Israeli product as unacceptable, or “haram” in Iran.

Since then, the aggressive relationship between Israel and Iran has persisted.

Reconciliation between the two nations will be challenging given decades of hostility, but diplomatic efforts to reach a compromise are essential.