On May 1, 2003, nearly two months after launching the invasion of Iraq, the then U.S. President George W. Bush landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which was off the San Diego coast after returning from combat operations in the Persian Gulf.

Arriving in a Lockheed S-3 Viking and dressed in a flight suit, Mr. Bush posed for photographs with pilots and crew members. A few hours later, he announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. “In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment, yet it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it,” Mr. Bush said from the flight deck of the carrier. Above him hung the warship’s now-famous banner: “Mission Accomplished”.

Except that it wasn’t. On September 30, more than 23 years after Mr. Bush gave his “mission accomplished” speech, the U.S. forces withdrew from their last military base in Iraq, wrapping up their combat operations and leaving the country in the hands of a divided government and powerful Iran-backed Shia militias. Iran, which is currently at war with the U.S., and the militias have welcomed the U.S. withdrawal as a victory.

Stuck in Iraq

The U.S. invaded Iraq saying Saddam Hussein’s regime had possessed weapons of mass destruction and harboured al-Qaeda terrorists. The invasion was the second stop in Mr. Bush’s ‘war on terrorism’.

Before launching the attack, Mr. Bush had grouped Iraq, Iran, and North Korea together as the ‘Axis of Evil’, indicating that Iran could be the next target. The claim about weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false. Al-Qaeda gained a foothold in Iraq only after the U.S. invasion toppled the Saddam Hussein regime.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), one of the most violent branches of the terrorist organisation, later transformed into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and spread terror across the region and beyond. Iraq also fell into a deadly sectarian civil war between Shias and Sunnis.

Perhaps the most consequential effect of the invasion was the expansion of Iranian influence across Iraq. Saddam’s Iraq, which had fought an eight-year-long war with Iran, had remained a buffer between the Islamic Republic and Gulf monarchies.

Once Saddam was gone, Iran, which had built historical ties with Iraq’s Shia parties that had been suppressed by the Baathist regime, extended and deepened its reach. It also supported Shia militias with money, weapons and training to trap U.S. forces, as Tehran feared that the U.S. could turn against Iran next if it managed to stabilise Iraq.

Forever war

Over the past 23 years, the U.S. had spent some $1.7 trillion and lost 4,500 troops in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were also killed during the war.

In 2011, the then President Barack Obama had announced an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq. But after the Islamic State captured huge swathes of territory in Iraq, including Mosul, the second largest city, U.S. troops returned to fight IS terrorists.

Since then the U.S. had retained some 2,500 troops, mostly in its bases in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. All these troops are now being withdrawn. Some marines will remain in the country to protect U.S. diplomatic missions — besides the Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. has a large consulate in Erbil. U.S. military contractors would continue to help the Iraqi army maintain its F-16 fleet and U.S.-made tanks.

President Trump says Iraq can now take care of its own security and hence the U.S. troops are no longer needed. But the ground situation is a lot more complex.

U.S. troops came under increasing attack from Iran-backed Shia militias in recent years. The militias are powerful political and military entities today. Even though the Iraqi government has pushed them to disarm, it has faced severe resistance.

After the U.S. war on Iran began on February 28, the militias, loosely called Popular Mobilisation Units (Hashad al-Shabi), have stepped up their attacks on U.S. forces.

In the first two months of the war, Iran and the Shia militias launched more than 600 attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq. The U.S. found it increasingly difficult to keep a large group of troops in a region that’s turning hostile, and Mr. Trump decided to stick to the Biden-era deadline of completing the withdrawal by September 30.

Shifting balance

Even though Iran built deep influence in Iraq through Shia political parties and militias after the American invasion, the presence of U.S. troops and an autonomous Kurdistan closely aligned with Washington provided a counterweight, maintaining a balance between the two rival centres of power.

With the U.S. troops leaving, that balance could tilt further in Iran’s favour. Iranian attacks have already forced Washington to substantially reduce its military presence across the Persian Gulf region.

When U.S. air strikes killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of Hashad, along with Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020, many saw it as a major blow to Iraq’s Shia militias. Six years later, as U.S. troops leave the last of their bases in Iraq, Hashad appears to be more deeply entrenched than ever. So is Iran.

Published – September 30, 2026 02:57 pm IST

New Delhi:

Iran on Tuesday fired 200 missiles, including hypersonic weapons, at Israel as tensions in the Middle East reach breaking point. Israel has vowed that Iran will “pay” for the attack. But relations between the two countries were not always sour. Unthinkable as it may sound, Israel and Iran had collaborated, with help from the United States, to fight a common enemy. 

In the 1960s, both Israel and Iran found a mutual adversary in Iraq. While Israel was locked in a broader struggle against hostile Arab regimes, Iran, under the Shah, viewed Iraq’s leadership as a direct threat to its security and regional ambitions. This laid the groundwork for one of the most secretive partnerships of the era, involving the Mossad – Israel’s intelligence agency – and SAVAK – Iran’s secret police – both of which played key roles in bolstering Kurdish insurgents against the central Iraqi regime. These Kurdish groups, seen as the Achilles’ heel of Iraq’s Arab nationalist leadership, were crucial to undermining the Iraqi government from within.

The cooperation between Israel and Iran reached new heights with the formation of a trilateral intelligence alliance code-named Trident, which also included Turkey. Beginning in 1958, Trident saw these three non-Arab powers exchange critical intelligence and engage in joint counterintelligence operations. As the relationship matured, Israel and Iran became even closer, forming deep military and intelligence ties that extended well into the Shah’s reign.

The Shah’s Ambitions And Israel’s Influence

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was driven not only by shared geopolitical interests but by a belief in Israel’s influence in Washington. The Shah saw Israel as a potential means for enhancing relations with the United States, especially after the Kennedy administration voiced concerns about his authoritarian rule.

The burgeoning Israeli-Iranian relationship became a key feature of Iran’s strategy to align itself with the West, resulting in the establishment of a permanent Israeli delegation in Tehran by the mid-1960s, which functioned as a de facto embassy.

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with US President Jimmy Carter
Photo Credit: Getty

However, the relationship was not without complications. The Shah, aware of the widespread anti-Israeli sentiment across the Arab world, carefully managed the public face of Iran’s relationship with Israel. While he became more critical of Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, his strategic interests continued to outweigh ideological or diplomatic positions.

Cooperation In The Shadows

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran drastically changed the country’s political landscape, transforming it into an anti-Israel Islamic Republic. Yet, even after Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power, the new regime found itself quietly collaborating with Israel, driven once again by common enemies. As the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) dragged on, both countries recognised the advantage of working together against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Israel, too, saw an opportunity in aiding Iran. In particular, it viewed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as a more immediate and dangerous threat to its security, given Baghdad’s ambitions for regional dominance and its pursuit of nuclear capabilities. Iraq’s formidable military, supplied by both the United States and the Soviet Union, posed a risk, and Israel’s shipment of arms to Iran – particularly after Prime Minister Menachem Begin approved the sale of military equipment in 1980 – was a calculated decision to undermine Iraq’s strength.

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (L) chats to Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat at his home where the ministers discussed events in Iran in 1979.
Photo Credit: Getty

These covert arms deals were conducted despite US policy that barred military support for Iran until the release of American hostages held in Tehran. In exchange for Israeli military aid, Khomeini’s regime allowed a significant number of Iranian Jews to emigrate to Israel or the United States, a concession that underscored the pragmatic nature of the relationship.

The Iran-Contra Affair

By the mid-1980s, Iran’s need for military support reached a critical point. The Iran-Iraq War had drained the country’s resources, and its economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. It was against this backdrop that the Iran-Contra affair unfolded – a secretive, high-stakes operation involving arms sales facilitated by Israel, with the backing of senior Ronald Reagan administration officials, to secure the release of American hostages held by Iran-sponsored Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Algeria’s President Houri Boumedienne, (center), is flanked by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran, (left), and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, (right) in 1975.
Photo Credit: Getty

For Israel, these arms deals were lucrative and strategically valuable, further enhancing its role as a clandestine ally of Iran in its war against Iraq. Iran, desperate for arms and resources, was willing to engage with both Israel and the United States, even as it continued to publicly vilify Israel. 

The Secret Missile Project: Operation Flower

The Israeli-Iranian partnership extended beyond conventional arms deals. One of the most ambitious projects was Operation Flower, a secret multibillion-dollar initiative that began in 1977 under the Shah’s regime. The project involved the modification of surface-to-surface missiles, potentially capable of being fitted with nuclear warheads, for sale to Iran. However, the nuclear aspect of the project was not pursued.

As part of the deal, Iran made a substantial down payment in 1978 by sending $260 million worth of oil to Israel, a New York Times report from 1986 claimed. Work on the missile program continued until the Islamic Revolution in 1979, after which Khomeini’s regime abruptly halted the collaboration. 

Spare Tyres For F-4 Fighter Jets

Israel covertly supplied Iran with 250 spare tyres for American-made F-4 fighter jets in October 1980, as Iran waged war against Iraq, according to a New York Times report from 1981. 

After Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in September 1980, Israel found itself in an unusual position. The Israeli sale of 250 retreaded tires, valued at around $300,000, was a secretive transaction aimed at bolstering Iran’s air force. The F-4 Phantom jets, a key component of Iran’s military, had been grounded due to wear and tear. With no immediate access to parts due to the embargo placed by the US on Iran, Israel stepped in to fill the gap. According to the New York Times, retreaded tyres were produced in Israel and then covertly transported to France, where they were flown to Iran on chartered planes.

The Shah of Iran, in St. Louis to discuss buying F-4 Phantom jets built by McDonnel Douglas aircraft company.
Photo Credit: Getty

The transaction occurred during a delicate period for US-Iran relations, with 52 American diplomats still held hostage in Tehran. The Jimmy Carter administration, keen to secure their release, urged Israel to suspend further military deals with Iran until the hostages were freed. According to officials involved, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed to American pressure and paused all military dealings, despite Israeli strategic interests in preventing an Iraqi victory in the war.

Beyond regional power politics, Israel had a more personal concern: the fate of the Jewish population in Iran. At the time, approximately 60,000 Jews lived in Iran, and there were growing fears in Israel that they could become targets of repression or persecution under the new regime. Maintaining some form of back-channel communication with Iran was seen as a way to protect these Jewish communities.

Hostility And Rivalry 

By the 1990s, the era of cooperation between Israel and Iran had all but evaporated. The geopolitical factors that had once united them -Arab socialism, Soviet influence, and the threat of Iraq – had disappeared, leaving little incentive for continued collaboration. Iran, now firmly under the control of its revolutionary government, embraced an anti-Israel ideology, supporting groups like Hezbollah and Hamas in their conflicts with the Jewish state.

By the early 2000s, the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose Holocaust denial and aggressive rhetoric against Israel stoked tensions further, cemented Iran as Israel’s most prominent adversary in the region. As Israel fought wars with Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas in 2008, Iranian support for these non-state actors – collectively termed the ‘Axis Of Resistance’ – became a central concern in Israel’s strategic calculations.

2024 And Threat Of All-Out War

Ties between Iran and Israel are now non-existent. The two Middle Eastern countries are now on the brink of all-out war, evidenced by Israel’s multi-frontal conflict against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen. All three of these armed militant groups are part of Iran’s ‘Axis Of Resistance’.