Nadene Goldfoot
Israel supported Iran during the Iran–Iraq War. Israel was one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Iran during the war. Israel also provided military instructors during the war, and in turn received Iranian intelligence that helped it carry out Operation Opera against Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.
Before Iranian Revolution in 1979, Iran under the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was an ally and major buyer of Israeli weapons. However, after the revolution, the new government of Ayatollah Khomeini, froze relations with Israel and was openly hostile towards it.
Unable to get military equipment from the Carter administration (1977-1981), the Iranians reached out through back channels to the Israeli government and negotiated a preliminary covert arms deal between the two countries. In early 1980, the first military equipment sale by Israel to the Iranian government of Ayatollah Khomeini occurred, when Israel sold to Iran a large number of tires for the F-4 Phantom fighter jet. Israel kept Iranian planes flying in spite of a lack of spares, and Israeli instructors taught Iranian commanders how to handle troops.
Oy! the shame of it; Iran taking Israel's help ! How dare they! During and after the war, Iranian officials denied they had received help from Israel which they denounced as an "illegitimate state". Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iran during the war, angrily denied that Israeli arms were sent to Iran. In a speech on August 24, 1981, he maintained that Iran's enemies were trying to undermine the Islamic Revolution by spreading false rumors of Israeli-Iranian cooperation. He alleged that while Israel had bombed and destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear facilities in 1981, this was because Saddam Hussein was actually an ally of Israel who "forced" Israel to destroy his own nuclear facilities.
Despite Iranian leaders denouncing Israel at Friday prayers, Israel supplied instructors and non-armament help to Iran. Israeli military and civilian advisers arrived in Iran three days after the beginning of the war to assist Iran's military command. (Little did Israel know how bad the Ayatollah regime would turn out to be.
In 1979, the Shah fled Iran, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an exiled Shia cleric opposed to Western influence, took power. He declared Iran an Islamic Republic, ruling through a mix of theocracy and managed democracy based on his interpretation of Islamic law. He aligned Iran against the U.S. and Israel, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and building a network of proxies across the region to spread his ideals of theocratic rule.
Iran has not always been Shia-majority or Islamist. For most of its post-Islamic conquest history, Iran was predominantly Sunni. The forced, nationwide conversion to Twelver Shia Islam was initiated by the Safavid dynasty in 1501 to create a distinct political identity from the neighboring Sunni Ottoman Empire.
How did Ruhollah get away with it? "Thousands of political prisoners were executed, and political opposition was harshly suppressed"
His successor.Khamenei also built up the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a military force parallel to Iran’s traditional military, tasked with “defending the revolution,” and the Basij, a paramilitary force primarily responsible for combating dissent within Iran.
The Shah's son, Crown Prince Pahlavi, is now leading THE Revolution of Iranians from the USA. He will soon join them in Iran. The question of who will lead if and when the regime falls isn’t the most pressing concern for many at the moment, though. As the protests expanded Thursday evening, the regime severely intensified its crackdown.
Internet access and phone service throughout the country were shut down, and security forces rained bullets on protesters. As of Wednesday, thousands of protesters were reported killed, with some estimates reaching as high as 20,000 killed, with many more wounded and thousands arrested. Those in hospitals were known to be murdered already. Verifiable information is difficult to obtain because of the communications blackout, but the limited footage and testimony that have emerged are extremely concerning. Tousi.tv is a major one with its handler being Tousi in England with helpers in Iran whose father is still in Iran.
Fatemeh Shams, an Iranian professor living in exile in America since 2009, told The New Yorker that these protests differ from previous ones because Iranians from all sectors and classes are involved. Shams publicly renounced compulsory Hejab in 2011, which immediately made her a target of a state-sponsored online smear campaign. Ever since, she has been an outspoken feminist activist against compulsory Hejab and anti-women laws in Iran. Womanhood, Life in exile, migration, politics, war, human relationships, gender issues, and socio-political taboos are among the leading themes in her works. She has been a well-known female dissident poet. Since 2009, as a result of the controversial presidential election, she has been forced to live in exile following the arrest of her immediate family members (her sister and ex-husband) by the Iranian authorities.
“This is a riot of a starving population. This is a riot for survival… It’s a matter of how to survive and protect their families and put bread and food on the table when basic goods are impossible to buy or find.” It has hit everyone's pockets so that a wheel barrow of money can't buy a thing; far worse than Germany had been in 1939. They're running out of water. How much worse can they get? They are at that point. The Prince said, " it was not a question of whether political change would come to Iran, but “how many Iranians would be sacrificed as democracies stand by and watch,” speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, 2/14/26.,
On June 22, 2025, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran as part of the Iran–Israel war, under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer. The Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center were targeted with fourteen GBU-57A/B MOP "bunker buster" bombs carried by B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and Tomahawk missiles fired from a submarine. According to Trump, US F-35 and F-22 fighters also entered Iran's airspace to draw its surface-to-air missiles, but no launches were detected.
Now: Trump tells Iranian protesters 'help is on its way’ | ABC NEWS. They took him at his
word. US President Donald Trump a month ago has encouraged Iranian protesters to overthrow the country’s Islamic regime, saying ‘help is on its way’ in a social media post.
Iranian authorities have told Reuters that around 2,000 people have been killed in widespread unrest since late December. As of 22/15/26, it could be 80,000.
The US leader is set to meet with his national security advisors including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
ABC correspondent Ben Knight says cyber attacks, kinetic strikes and more sanctions are some of the available options for the White House.Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXHvdk-yXo8
