There has been long standing conflict between Israel and Iran due to age-old religious and social tensions between the two countries.  However, in recent years there has been increased tensions between the two nations due to diplomatic issues and the increasing influence of the country’s military powers. You may have also heard about President Trump’s recent announcement to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which has added some fuel to the fire. Some people are confused about what that actually means. Allison Mitola 18’ says “[she] has heard about the Iran nuclear deal, but [doesn’t] really know what it is.” While Cassie Chung 19’ agrees with Allison, saying that “[she] has seen all of the news stories about Iran and Israel, but [is] unclear about what it all means.” Today, we will give you a short summary about the conflict.

At the moment, Israel and Iran are having skirmishes  in Syria. Iran intervened in the war in Syria to prevent rebels from overthrowing the president, who is backed by Iran, Bashar al-Assad. Although Iran has essentially neutralized the rebel threat, they have remained in Syria to increase their military infrastructure by training Shiite fighters. Now, the Iranian government wants to make Syria a reliable front for possible offense and defense. Iran has also begun to bring in defensive systems, which Israel has tried to prevent by issuing air strikes. Trump’s recent announcement to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal has increased tensions, because Israel has famously opposed the deal since its inception. Now, the fighting has increased and the conflict is more out in the open. It is almost inevitable that fighting will continue until something, or someone tries to stop it.

Image courtesy of NBC News