Tracing Iran-Israel tensions and hostilities as they edge closer to war
Israel and Iran opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict when Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday that set off explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Israel said it targeted nuclear and military facilities, killing Iran's top military and nuclear scientists. Israel's attack comes as tensions have escalated over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Israel sees as a threat to its existence.
Here is a timeline of some significant events in the hostilities between the two countries:
Early days
1967: Iran takes possession of its Tehran Research Reactor under America's 'Atoms for Peace' program.
1979: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fatally ill, flees Iran as popular protests against him surge. Pahlavi maintained economic and security ties with Israel. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and the Islamic Revolution sweeps him to power. Students seize the United States Embassy in Tehran, beginning the 444-day hostage crisis. Iran's nuclear program goes fallow under international pressure. Iran's new theocracy identifies Israel as a major enemy.
August 2002: Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group reveal Iran's secret Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
June 2003: Britain, France and Germany engage Iran in nuclear negotiations.
October 2003: Iran suspends uranium enrichment.
February 2006: Iran announces it will restart uranium enrichment following the election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Britain, France and Germany walk out of stalled negotiations.
June 2009: Iran's disputed presidential election sees Ahmadinejad reelected despite fraud allegations, sparking Green Movement protests and violent government crackdown.
October 2009: Under President Barack Obama, the US and Iran open a secret backchannel for messages in the sultanate of Oman.
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