Watchman comments: The Israeli, Iran and U.S. attacks and friction are part
of a wider escalation since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023. The three
nations' enmity stretches back decades, through a history of shadow wars and
clandestine attacks by land, sea, air, cybers terrorism, assassinations and general terrorism. Below is a brief chronology of the incidents.
By the way, the last thing "Nero" wants is a war in the Middle East before the November Presidential election. However, historically Democrats are generally war presidents.
1979 - Iran's
pro-Western leader Mohammed Reza Shah, who regarded Israel as an ally, is swept
from power in an Islamic Revolution that installs a new theocratic regime with
opposition to Israel an ideological imperative.
1982 - As Israel
invades Lebanon, Iran's Revolutionary Guards work with fellow Shi'ite Muslims
there to set up Hezbollah. Israel will eventually see the armed group as the
most dangerous adversary on its borders.
1983 - Iran-backed
Hezbollah uses suicide bombings to expel Western and Israeli forces from
Lebanon. In November a car packed with explosives drives into the headquarters
of the Israeli military. Israel later withdraws from much of Lebanon.
1992-94 - Argentina
and Israel accuse Iran and Hezbollah of being behind suicide bombings on
Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and a Jewish centre in the city in
1994, each of which killed dozens of people.
Iran and Hezbollah
deny responsibility.
2002 - Revelation that
Iran has a secret uranium enrichment programme prompts concern that it is
trying to build a nuclear weapon, which it denies. Israel urges tough action
against Tehran.
2006 - Israel fights
Hezbollah in a month-long war in Lebanon but is unable to crush the heavily
armed group.
2009 - In a speech,
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls Israel "a dangerous
and fatal cancer".
2010 - Stuxnet, a
malicious computer virus widely believed to have been developed by the United
States and Israel, was used to attack a uranium enrichment facility at Iran's
Natanz nuclear site. It was the first publicly known cyberattack on industrial
machinery.
2012 - Iranian nuclear
scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was killed by a bomb placed on his car by a
motorcyclist in Tehran. A city official blamed Israel for the attack.
2018 - Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from
Iran's nuclear deal with world powers after years of lobbying against the
agreement, calling Trump's decision "a historic move".
In May Israel says it
had struck Iranian military infrastructure in Syria - where Tehran was backing
President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war - after Iranian forces there fired
rockets at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
2020 - Israel welcomes
the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the overseas arm of
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in an American drone strike in Baghdad. Iran
strikes back with missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing American troops. About
100 U.S. military personnel were injured.
2021 - Iran blames
Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, viewed by Western
intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian programme to
develop nuclear weapons capability. Tehran has long denied any such ambition.
2022 - U.S. President
Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid sign a joint pledge to deny
Iran nuclear arms in a show of unity by allies long divided over diplomacy with
Tehran.
The undertaking, part
of a "Jerusalem Declaration" crowning Biden's first visit to Israel
as president, came a day after he told a local television station he was open
to "last resort" use of force against Iran - an apparent move toward
accommodating Israel's calls for a "credible military threat" by
world powers.
2024 - A suspected
Israeli air strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus kills seven
officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, including two senior commanders.
Israel neither confirmed or denied 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 a strike on Iranian soil
on April 19, sources familiar with the matter said.
