For decades, Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war across the Middle East, trading attacks by land, sea, air and in cyberspace.
The barrage of drones and missiles Iran launched at Israel on Saturday — though nearly all were shot down or intercepted — marked a watershed in the conflict.
It was the first time that Iran directly attacked Israel from its own territory, according to Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and expert in Middle East security issues at King’s College in London, who called it an “historic event.”Iran has largely used foreign proxies to strike Israeli interests, while targeted assassinations of Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists have been a key part of Israel’s strategy.
Here is a brief history of the conflict:January 2020: Israel greeted with satisfaction the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the commander of the foreign-facing arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in an American drone strike in Baghdad.
Iran hit back by attacking two bases in Iraq that housed American troops with a barrage of missiles, injuring about 100 U.S. military personnel.
Persons:
—, Ahron, Israel, Maj, Qassim Suleimani
Organizations:
Iran, Israel, King’s College, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
Locations:
Israel, Iran, Middle East, London, Gen, Baghdad, Iraq