Iran-Iraq War Begins: Paradoxical Israeli Support for Iran

Iraq’s invasion of Iran on September 22, 1980, created a paradoxical situation where Israel secretly supported Iran despite revolutionary Iran’s declared hostility toward the Jewish state.

Strategic Calculations

Israel’s complex considerations during the Iran-Iraq War:

• Iraq posed greater immediate threat to Israel
• Iran’s conventional military weakened by revolution
• Opportunity to maintain contacts with Iranian military
• Balance of power strategy in the region

Secret Arms Shipments

Despite public hostility, Israel covertly aided Iran:

• Shipments of spare parts for US-made weapons
• Artillery shells and ammunition
• Aircraft maintenance equipment
• Intelligence on Iraqi military positions

Operation Babylon Connection

Israel’s 1981 bombing of Iraq’s Osirak reactor indirectly helped Iran:

• Eliminated Iraqi nuclear weapons program
• Reduced long-term threat to Iran
• Demonstrated shared concern about Iraqi ambitions
• Created temporary tactical alignment

Iranian Response

Iran’s contradictory position:

• Publicly condemned Israeli actions globally
• Privately accepted Israeli military assistance
• Revolutionary Guards maintained some contact channels
• Pragmatic needs overcame ideological opposition

Regional Implications

The war’s impact on Iran-Israel dynamics:

• Established pattern of tactical cooperation despite strategic hostility
• Showed limits of revolutionary ideology
• Created precedent for future covert dealings
• Demonstrated regional realpolitik complexities

This period illustrates how strategic necessities can override ideological differences, even between declared enemies in Middle Eastern conflicts.