Iran Tracker

Nuclear:

Israel has repeatedly voiced concern over Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel believes Iran intends to use to produce nuclear weapons.[1] The Islamic Republic and Israel have not had official diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and Tel Aviv believes that a nuclear-armed Iran could threaten Israel’s existence.  Israel has supported UN sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, stating in March 2008 that a recent resolution regarding further UN sanctions against Iran was an “unequivocal message that the international community cannot accept Iran’s defiant nuclear program.”[2] Israel has also supported enacting further unilateral and multilateral sanctions against Iran until Tehran abandons its nuclear enrichment activities.

Israel has discussed taking unilateral military action against Iran’s nuclear sites since 2003.  Then-Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz claimed in 2003 that Israel would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic under any circumstances.[3] Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seconded this statement in 2005 after diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program between England, France, Germany, and Iran broke down.[4]  In July 2009, Israel sent two Saar-class missile ships and one Dolphin-class submarine capable of carrying nuclear warheads through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea in what an Israeli defense official has explained was preparation for a possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.[5] Soon after these exercises, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Iran that Israel was considering a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.[6]  According to the National Security Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Uzi Arad, Tel Aviv is prepared to attack the nuclear facilities unilaterally, without the military support of its American or European allies.[7]  He explained that Iran’s nuclear program threatens Israel more than its larger and more distant allies, stating that "we are always alone. Sometimes we have partners and lovers and donors of money, but no one is in our shoes."[8]

In September 2009, Israeli and Iranian officials met in Cairo at a meeting of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Israeli officials said that Israeli and Iranian delegations attended panel sessions of the conference in what, if confirmed, would be the first official exchange between the two countries since Iran’s 1979 revolution.[9] The talks, brokered by Australia, took place mere days after Iran’s announcement that it had built a uranium enrichment facility.[10] On October 16, 2009, Israeli President Shimon Peres stated that the chances of Israel initiating an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities are minimal, and that the United States should take the lead in dealing with Iran.[11] Israeli officials also expressed the hope that Iran’s nuclear program could be stopped by non-military means such as international sanctions, citing Israel’s belief that a military attack would only delay the inevitable development of an Iranian nuclear program.[12]

Economic Relationship:

Israel has had very limited bilateral economic relations since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.  These relations have been further limited since the UN began applying sanctions to the Iranian nuclear program in 2005.

Diplomatic/Military Relationship:

Israel and Iran do not have official diplomatic relations and neither country has recognized the other since the Islamic Republic’s creation in the Islamic Revolution of 1979.  Relations between the two countries have deteriorated further since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election in 2005.  Ahmadinejad has escalated public rhetoric against Israel, stating the country is "doomed to be wiped off the map" and claiming that the Holocaust was a "myth."[13]  In July 2009 Iran accused Israel of planning to assassinate Ahmadinejad after his reelection in June 2009.[14]  Iran has repeatedly accused Iran of instigating aggression against the Palestinian territories and voted against Israel in the Resolutions on the Arab-Israeli Conflict during the 62nd Session of the General Assembly.[15]  During the conflict in Gaza in January 2009, Iran also publicly criticized Israel’s use of force against the Palestinian territories.[16]  Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of funding and arming HAMAS and Hezbollah, which Israel and many Western nations list as terrorist entities.[17] In his address to the United Nations in September 2009, President Ahmadinejad decried Israel as having racist ambitions and claimed he was a “defender of the poor against unbridled capitalism.”[18]

In recent years, Israel has begun increasing its diplomatic ties with neighboring Arab countries that share Tel Aviv’s distrust of the Iranian nuclear program.  According to an Israeli defense official speaking to the British Times newspaper, Egyptian-Israeli ties have increased in the past year over the “shared mistrust of Iran.”[19]  The Israeli military used Egypt’s Suez Canal in July 2009 to transport three naval vessels that can strike Iranian nuclear facilities into the Red Sea for military exercises.[20] Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated during a press conference with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in July 2009 that Israel was still considering a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.[21] This statement was revised in October 2009 when Israeli President Shimon Peres announced that Israel prefers international sanctions to military action, and that Tel Aviv believed the United States should be the leader in confronting Iran on nuclear issues.[22]

In September 2009, amid deepening disputes over its nuclear program, Iran test-fired a missile that put Israel within striking range. Abdullah Araqi, a senior Revolutionary Guard official, said that, “Iranian missiles are able to target any place that threatens Iran.”[23] The tested missiles, liquid-fueled Shahab-3 and the solid-fueled Sejil-2, have ranges of about 850 to 1,250 miles, putting all of Israel including Tel Aviv well within range.[24]

In November 2009, the Israeli navy seized a vessel carrying several hundred tons of weapons 100 miles off the Israeli coast.[25]  According to Israeli defense officials, the weapons originated in Iran and were destined for Hezbollah and Hamas militants.  The ship originated in Iran, docking in Yemen and Sudan before passing through the Sue Canal reportedly on its way to a final destination in Lebanon.[26]  The ship’s crew said that they picked up the cargo in Damietta, Egypt, while the Israeli military contends that the cargo certificates indicated the weapons were shipped from an Iranian port.[27]

Iran blamed Israeli and United States intelligence forces for the January 2010 bombing in Tehran that killed Iranian physics professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated on Iranian television that "the manner of bomb planting shows a Zionist style and they want to make sure that Iran [will] not advance."[28] Washington denied the allegations as absurd, while Iranian officials blamed the attack the exiled opposition party, the People’s Mujahedeen, and allege that the group acted on behalf of Israel and the U.S.[29] On January 18, 2010, Iran announced on the official news agency IRNA its would take revenge on Israel and the United States for the professor’s death.[30] Washington continued to deny involvement, while Tel Aviv made no comment.[31]

Jordanian intelligence officials connected the January 2010 assassination of physics professor Massoud Ali Mohammad in Tehran with a failed bombing of an Israeli delegation in Amman, Jordan. Jordan’s General Intelligence Department announced that it believed that al Qaeda supporters financed by Iran were responsible for the unsuccessful bomb attack on the Israeli envoy.[32] No one was injured, and a Jordanian taxi driver was arrested in connection with the incident, but Jordanian intelligence concluded that the explosion was retaliation for the Tehran bomb attack that Iran had blamed on the U.S. and Israel.[33]

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his confidence that Islamic nations will eventually witness the destruction of Israel: "Surely, the day will come when the nations of the region will witness the destruction of the Zionist regime... when the destruction happens will depend on how the Islamic nations approach the issue."[34]  The comment was made during a meeting with Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz and published via his website in late January 2010. He went on to say that Israel’s attempts to “erase Palestine from the world of Islamic nations” will not succeed.[35]

A controversial encounter between Iranian and Israeli diplomats reportedly took place at a January 2010 tourism fair in Madrid. Official news agencies in Iran denied claims that Hamid Baghaei, Iranian Tourism Minister and Vice President, stood next to and shook hands with his Israeli counterpart Stas Misezhnikov, despite pictorial evidence.[36] The official Iranian news agency, IRNA, reported that "the Zionist regime published a blatant lie in order to distract global attention from its crimes in Gaza last year."[37] However, there was no official Iranian response to the meeting captured on camera between the Israeli minister and the Iranian official manning his country's booth at the fair.[38]  According to an Israeli news source, Y’Net, Misezhnikov shook Baghaei's hand and said to him, "we are both from the same region, and tourism can be a bridge to peace. The people in Israel see the people in Iran as a friend, but it is important that the Iranian president stop the wild incitement against Israel and bring Iran back into the family of nations."[39]

In February 2010, Iranian officials arrested seven people accused of inciting unrest after last year's disputed election, suggesting that the individuals had ties to Israel: "Seven people organizationally linked to the counter-revolutionaries, the Zionist media and elements of the sedition have been arrested.”[40] The Israeli government did not respond to this allegation.

In February 2010 Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said Israel might use force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Minister Yaalon told a security conference in Herzliya, "Iran's plan will probably be stopped by a regime change or, if there is no other choice, by recourse to force to deprive Iran of its nuclear arms production capabilities.”[41]

Iran and Israel are both planning to launch new satellites into space to monitor each other's military domains as they prepare for possible conflict. Israel already has several surveillance satellites in orbit, but a new satellite, Ofek-8, will be put into space soon for reconnaissance purposes.[42] In early 2008 Israel launched the TecSar spy satellite from India, extending its surveillance over Iran. Israel plans to launch the Opsat 3000 satellite before 2020.[43] In January 2010, Iranian Communications Minister Reza Taghipour identified Iranian satellites as Tolou, Ya Mahdi, and Mesbah-2, but gave no launch dates.[44] Tolou was built by Sa Iran, also known as Iran Electronics Industries, which is affiliated with Iran's Defense Ministry. Iran launched its first indigenous satellite, Omid, in February 2009.[45]